Fade to Black
by The King of Swag
Summary: Team 1, a new team under the tutelage of Mitarashi Anko herself. OCs Tomū, Katsu and Akiko ready themselves up in their journey into the lives of true ninja. But there's a secret lying in the darkness that's waiting to reveal itself... OC adventure story! Slight OC/Anko ship! M for Language and possible lemons/limes!
1. Morning Is A Bitch

**Wassup everybody! King of Swag has just created a new fanfiction story; a Naruto story with OC characters in their own adventures (Added 'special' personalities to OCs)! Sure, a lot of you are thinking 'Is Naruto and the rest of the Konoha 12 gonna be in it?' and I have to say: YES THEY ARE! Anko Mitarashi is gonna be the leader of the OC team and there will be relationships with people from Rookie 12 (And/or others characters)! Plus, my team will meet up with Naruto's a few times during this fic! **

**But before I continue, I have to announce that this story might be a bit vulgar to most readers. And it isn't ALL of my doing. While I may be typing the plotline and created MY OC, two other accounts had helped me out as well by adding in some of their ideas. Both accounts have created their OCs just like me! Now I'll tell you who owns what OC:**

**The King of Swag: Shokku Tomu **

**Cheshire-Cat: Hiyashi Akiko**

**Spider-mantheraper: Hyuuga Katsu**

**More will be explained in story. Good? Good! Now feel my words with your eyeballs! **

**Disclaimer: None of us own Naruto, that is Kishimoto's property. If we did, we'd fuck up the show so badly... O_o!**

* * *

_BEEP BEEP BEEP!_

"Grrr...! Five more minutes..." A low voice drawled. The source of the voice was easily found under a pile of tangled bed sheets and covers with only a foot coming out from one end. To only a few, this was a normal occurrence for whoever was under the covers.

But to other's, besides the sheets looking like it was deformed giant caterpillar, the room has been proven to be worst by certain hints. Clothes were discarded randomly across the floor, bags of chips or old pizza boxes as well as opened scrolls on chakra, Ninjutsu, Taijutsu styles, Genjutsu and Fuinjutsu. Posters of music artists or simple artwork were drooping from the walls, some already on the ground. Was that a cockroach that crawled by? Well...

The room looked like shit plain and simple.

It was like the room had a group of rabid kindergardeners barge into the bedroom after drinking many bottles of soda and eating bags of sour candy. That's how bad it looked.

...Well to most people; including...

The door of the messy room had opened and a tall woman with long black hair cascading down her back walked in. She had a simple outfit; dark blue pants, pink shirt, and a white apron wrapped over her front. The female had a small smile on her face as she walked in, seemingly like she was gonna yell out "Surprise!" or something in that positive manner.

That smile had quickly changer into a disgusted scowl as soon as she looked at the floor. She didn't open the bedroom door without having to push a pile of clothes out of the way and by the time the door was fully opened, a disturbing smell invaded her nostrils.

'Oh Kami,' The female thought, holding a hand up to her nose to block out the smell. 'It smells like a skunk took a shit in a 3 month old sweaty sock!'

As the female pinched her nose so no more scents, unwanted and wanted could enter, she looked at the bed with the 'mutated caterpillar monster' with a set of stern eyes. "I thought I told you to clean your room last night." She said aloud, expecting an answer.

_Toot!_

The only other noise besides the air conditioner and beeping alarm clock, had slipped through the sheet's fabrics. The female's left brow twitched slightly at the flatulence from whoever was under the covers. She started growling. "TOMU-KUN WAKE UP!" She bellowed, her voice reaching high volumes; high enough to effectively scare the shit out of the person sleeping under the covers.

The person had began screaming and flailing around in the covers as if someone had set of an explosive tag next to them for a prank. After a few seconds of flipping out, it seemed like the person had lost their balance and fell off the bed, landing on their face if the loud smack and groan was any indication to go by.

"Ooow, that hurt..." A weak and muffled whine was heard from the floor.

As the woman continued to stare at the fallen person, a hand reached out of the covers and touched the carpet. With a quick push, the black bundle of hair was lifted into the air, as well as the body that was attached to it.

Another hand had found its way to the person's face, but it was clear that with the lack of a shirt and only wearing boxers, the person was a male. The teen had long, almost spiky hair, that went down to his shoulders. His skin was slightly pale, but not really noticeable unless you stare at him closely.

After rubbing his slightly bruised face, the teen had put both hands on his back and arched his form. The female wore a face of disgust from the sounds of bones popping while the teen was letting out a long yawn.

Seeing the teen was basically oblivious to her presence, the woman looked to her right where a large dresser was placed. Without warning, her hand smacked the surface, creating a loud SLAP that echoed against the room's walls.

Flinching from the sudden noise, the teen let out a yelp when he cracked his spine a but too far. Quickly trying to soothe his stinging back, the teen looked towards the source of the noise with an annoyed scowl. He was about to start cursing someone out until he noticed who was was at the door. His scowl turned into a nervous smile as he saw the female with her hands in her hips and her eyes narrowed.

"O-Oh, um good morning Kaa-chan." The teen greeted nervously, already knowing that things were gonna get loud from something he did. His mother crossed her arms and rose a brow. Seeing his mother like this definitely told him he did something wrong. He let out a sigh. "Okay, what did I do wrong?" He said in a tired tone.

"Just be quiet, Tomu-kun. I think you'll find your answer." His mother instructed and Tomu blinked at her in confusion.

He was gonna question her demands, but it only took a second for him to realize what she was implying.

_BEEP BEEP BEEP!_

Tomu's head quickly snapped towards the loud device on his smaller dresser. His black eyes widened when the time said 8:09 am. "Shit, I'm late!" He cursed in a panic, but before he could do anything else, his face met the floor again with a large bump on his head. His mother stood over him with a smoking fist. "Watch your mouth!" She scolded as Tomu twitched on the floor.

With a huff, Tomu's mother crossed her arms again. "And don't even think about leaving! I don't care what reason it is, but you're going to clean this room! It's revolting!" His mother informed with a tone that dared her son to say otherwise.

Tomu moved his head slightly. "B-But-" He stopped when he saw a certain fire in her eyes. He nodded quickly and his mother nodded. "Good, now hurry up. I want to congratulate my little shinobi~" She cooed with her mood doing a perfect 180.

As Tomu's mother started towards the door, she started growling upon stepping into the hallway. "And this room better be spotless in the next 5 minutes!" She slammed the door shut and Tomu sat up with his arms crossed.

"I know, don't need to act crazy." He mumbled in annoyance until he heard a tiny creaking sound. Tomu looked up and his heart dropped into his stomach. A single blue eye was glaring at him through a slightly opened door. "What was that Shokku Tomu?"

"N-Nothing Kaa-chan!"

"I thought so."

* * *

**Three and a half minutes later...**

Tomu's mother, Shokku Yuri, was sitting at the dining room table drinking tea. She hummed a small tune as the green tea flavored drink was gulped down. Next to her was a plate of pancakes, eggs, and sausage; Tomu's supposed to be breakfast. She had made it for him earlier, but due to him oversleeping, 'Again' she thought dryly, the food was gonna go to waste. "Better not go to waste." Yuri growled lightly, clutching the handle to her cup a bit tighter.

If there was a paper written rules, there would be without a doubt a rule that said 'NEVER WASTE FOOD!' Even so with the knowledge of having to waste food, she couldn't help, but smile a bit. Today was a special day. Not for her, but for her son; Tomu.

Before she could start giggling over it, she heard shuffling from the hallway and looked in time to see Tomu wearing his full attire for the day.

Tomu had chosen to wear a black zip-up hoodie with dark blue lines running down the spine and arms, with matching cargo pants with the same design. His undershirt was only a sleeveless fishnet shirt and his weapons pouch was wrapped tightly around his right thigh. His shoes were black sandals and on his hands were fingerless gloves with thin metal plates on the knuckles. On his back were two sword sheaths, the handles of the actual swords poking at the top, waiting to be pulled out and used for battle.

All in all, his appearance was most appropriate today. And it was also a bit surprising to acknowledge the fact that Tomu had cleaned his room and dressed perfectly in only four minutes.

Tomu was panting a bit when he walking into the kitchen. Yuri smiled at her son and stood up. "Ooh, look at you~ Now you look like a true shinobi!"

"Oh, is this for me?" Tomu said, dumbly ignoring his mothers praise and focusing on the plate of food. He finally looked at his mother and saw her give a shaky nod. Though he didn't seem to notice the twitching of her right brow and the small tick mark on her forehead from being bluntly ignored.

"Yes," Yuri said through her teeth. "Just sit down and eat while I talk, Tomu-kun." She ordered 'kindly', but it was enough for Tomu to sit down quickly and pull the plate towards his chest. Without a hint of hesitation, Tomu had grabbed a fork and dug straight into his breakfast, stuffing as much pancake, sausage, and eggs into his mouth until his cheeks puffed outwards.

Tomu's eyes seemed to sparkle and a bit of drool hung on his lower lip. 'Nothing's better than Kaa-san's cooking!' Tomu thought, as if the pancakes were filled with everything good and holy.

It was always amusing for Yuri to watch her son have this reaction to her cooking; to see that someone was grateful and honored her skills. She let out a few giggles as Tomu continued to stuff his face. Yuri rose a brow. "Tomu-kun, you need to slow down or-"

"ACK!" The young male violently coughed up bits of food.

"You'll choke." Yuri deadpanned/sweatdropped.

"(Cough, cough!) I'm (Cough!) I'm good!" Tomu strained as he pounded his chest with a fist and swallowed as hard as he could. His purple face had slowly began to become the normal skin color as he took in bits of oxygen. Seeing her son finally take in a long breath of life, Yuri began to smile a wide smile. "Tomu-kun, I can't believe today is the day! Ooh~" she squealed.

"My little boy is finally a ninja! I'm so happy!" Yuri clapped loudly, bouncing a bit in her seat.

"Kaa-chan, you sound like I just made your life sunshine and rainbows." Tomu smirked at his little joke. Yuri waved at him with a giggle.

"Oh but you have!" Yuri stated quickly. "You're a Shinobi now! I've been waiting for this day since you were born!"

"Really? Is becoming a ninja that important to you Kaa-chan?"

"Hell yeah it is! Becoming a ninja proves that your successful in my eyes."

Tomu stopped eating for a second before swallowing his mushy food and narrowing his eyes with a nervous grin. "So basically you called me a failure before graduating?" Tomu said slowly, with a small chuckle at the end.

"Don't put words in my mouth, Tomu-kun. You're the best son I could ever have." Yuri smiled.

"Then the same goes for you. Except you're the best Kaa-chan I could ever have." Tomu snickered and dug into his food again. "Though thinking about the life of a Shinobi, I wonder how fun it'll be. You know, zooming through trees and shooting fire from my mouth-"

Another loud SLAP caught him off guard. Tomu started choking as Yuri raised her hand from the table, her finger pointing at her struggling son. She had a serious expression on her face. "Now you listen here Tomu-kun. Being a ninja isn't a game. None whatsoever." She said sternly, making Tomu freeze up after his choking was done.

"If you plan on acting like a fool in the field then you better go to your room right now." Yuri suddenly ordered and held out a hand to point behind him. The black haired teen stared at his mother with a 'The fuck are you smoking' face before looking at her hand. It took a few seconds for her words to register into his mind before he scowled.

"There's no way I'm giving up being a ninja, Kaa-chan. Put your hand away." Tomu said back and Yuri narrowed her eyes at her son.

"Tomu-kun, I'm only gonna give you a warning right now. Being a ninja is the hardest job you could ever ask for and receive. You're basically asking to be a murderer for money." Yuri said bluntly, making Tomu lose a bit of feeling in his body. "Yes, I know it sounds bad when I say it like that, but sickeningly out their in the eyes of veteran ninja, my words sounds like a child learning of sex at age 9 to them." Tomu held back an immature snicker.

Yuri's eyes hardened as she leaned forward and stared into Tomu's eyes. "Tomu," she began and her son had a little gasp. He already knew if she said his name without the suffix, she was serious. _Dead-serious_. "Tomu, tell me right now. Do you _really_ want to be a ninja. A person who kills for a living?" Yuri questioned and Tomu stared at his mother with a thoughtful face.

Fork down on a now empty plate, Tomu's fingers dug into his palm as his hand balled into a tight fist. Was his mother really trying to get him out of the ninja business? 'A killer for money...?' Tomu thought to himself. 'Sure the thought itself bring a sick feeling in my stomach, but a killer...'

With a few more seconds of thinking in silence, Tomu suddenly had a smirk on his face and he held up a thumb. "I'm going with the Way of the Shinobi, Kaa-chan!" He said.

"Tomu, listen to me when I say-"

"That I'll become a killer for money, I got that part." Tomu his mom off in mid-sentence. He slammed his fist against the table. "But if I'm gonna be a killer, it's gonna be to protect my home." Tomu declared firmly, his arms crossed at the end to prove being adamant on the matter.

Tomu was expecting at least some words of arguement, but he didn't expect his mother to stare at him. For _2_ full minutes. Tomu was beginning to sweat bullets, but he didn't falter from his firm position.

As a silent mother stood straight at her son, who was struggling not to slip through his clothes from the immense amount of sweat, Tomu was starting to feel mentally uncomfortable. 'What is her problem!? Did I break her or something!?' He thought and Yuri finally had a change in her posture. She had a small sigh, almost sounding disappointed, before she got up from her seat.

Tomu blinked and slipped out of his crossed arm statue as he watched his mouth walk around the table. His sweat was coming twice as much, but surprisingly his clothes didn't seem to be wet. Strange.

As Yuri continued to walk around the table, Tomu heard a small beeping noise. He blinked and looked down to his wrist, where a small wristwatch resided. His eyes almost bugged out of his head. 'You've got to be shitting me! It's already 8:30!?' Tomu almost pissed himself when he stood up, ready to bolt.

Only to feel long arms wrap around him in a hug. Tomu froze upon contact, confused for a moment until he remember that his mother was the only other person in the room. "Kaa-chan...?" Tomu said, surprise clear in his tone as he motioned his head upwards, looking past her chest and too a smiling face. "Why-"

"Be safe and make me proud." Yuri said.

Slowly a large smile threatened to split his face in two. Tomu gave a quick set of nods and pulled out of his mother's hug. "I will!" He said before bolting out of the kitchen and to the front door of their home. "Oh and tell Aki-san and Katsu-kun I said hello and congratulations!" Yuri called out.

As the sounds of rushing sandals and a door slamming shut had ceased, Yuri looked at Tomu's used plate with a smile. 'He's really growing up.' She thought before she suddenly perked up, a small blush on her cheeks. "Oops, I forgot to tell him I have a surprise for him!" Yuri stood still in shock before she burst into a fit of giggles. "Oh, I'm sure the gift will be better later. After all, a surprise isn't a surprise if warned about it." She joked before walking to the sink.

As she walked, she had let out a few light coughs before reaching the dish-rack.

* * *

_I can feel the tick-tock tick-tock! When I'm staring at my wristwatch, wristwatch!_

_I wonder where the time gone, time gone!_

_I'm carryin' a time bomb, time bomb!_

_I don't want it to blow! I don't want it to blow!_

_Where did it gooo? At the end of the road? I don't want it to blow!_

Tomu sang with a happy grin as he bounced from roof to roof, pressing his watch and singing along with the rhythmic beeping. He was running late to his graduation class so he was going full speed. He couldn't afford to be later than he was already comfortable with. But that didn't mean he could add any music to his small journey.

It was a weird thing for Tomu. Being able to do anything twice as fast or efficient with some kind of music. From simple tapping on his knees or to the hardcore music from speakers at a concert or something.

Tomu had continued to sing, or rap in this case, as he leapt to another roof. His work was efficient with music, that was sure, but there was always a downside to everything. And the downside to this, was he couldn't notice small details that anybody could notice. Aka, the slippery wetness along the roofs from the sudden thunderstorm last night.

As he continued to jump, Tomu's little session was picking up the pace. His mouth started to move faster and the beeping got louder.

_My time is ticking and I'm up against the ropes!_

_Time to swallow my pride, working hard to never choke!_

_Cause my eyes are on the prize, but my pockets still on broke!_

_And I'm about to lose the single thing in life I wanted most!_

_So I go hard, go hard! Outta my waaAAAAAAAY!_

Tomu screamed in mid-sentence when he felt himself lose his footing on a roof's surface. Due to the leftover water and cool air making the surface slippery, Tomu had quickly slipped off the roof. Dumbass.

Below walking out of a small shop was a purple haired woman with her bun tied into a spiky bun. In her hand was a stick of Dango and in her other hand were 4 other sticks. The female was wearing a... more or less revealing outfit that consisted of a trench coat, a simple fishnet shirt over her assets, a burnt orange skirt, shin guards, and open toed sandals.

The female had a large smile on her face as she ate another piece of her recently bought food. "Hm! I swear these things can brighten me up any day!" The female hummed in delight. She ate another one before a sadistic smirk ectched on her face.

"Heh, I guess having a session on a prisoner alongside Ibiki-chan can really make a girl hungry, huh?" The female snickered, eating more of her food as she went back in time with thoughts of a bloody prisoner screaming for mercy. The female snickered evilly as she went to turn down the street.

"AAAAAH!" A sudden scream caught the woman off guard, making her turn her head around quickly. "Wha-" Was the female's only word before a black haired head smashed into her face. The woman and Tomu had fallen to the ground in a small crater, smoke rising around them.

"Ugh, my head." Tomu groaned, holding his head as he tried to get up. 'How the hell does slipping off a roof turn me into a human bullet?' Tomu thought in annoyance and realized he heard groaning underneath him. He took a hand from his face to look down at the person he accidently crashed into.

He was gonna apologize to whoever was unlucky to be smacked into the ground, but he was only met with piercing chocolate eyes, staring back into his with a sharp anger. 'Great,' Tomu thought in frustration. 'I landed on a female. I swear, she's gonna be bitching for hours after this-' Tomu stopped in mid-thought when he realized the woman's eyes weren't staring at him anymore. They were looking down her left side and slowly Tomu's eyes had followed; only to realize...

_Squeeze, squeeze. _Oh shit.

By now Tomu could swear his nerves had abandoned his hand, as if trying to say 'You're gonna be cut off anyway.'

Tomu had been staring at his still squeezing hand, a blush on his face while the female under him started to growl. "Having fun there?" She said in a dangerous tone and Tomu could feel sweat flooding from his pores again. This time, 3 times the rate.

'I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die,' Tomu thought repeatedly as he tried with every ounce of will power to get his hand to unlatch from the woman's breast. The young child looked back at the angry female in the eyes, a severely nervous chuckle escape a weak smile. "I'm r-really sorry. You see I'm-"

"Still feeling me up." The woman snarled and Tomu felt his heart drop into his stomach. By now, Tomu could notice the small crowd watching their little scene. He could easily hear the mumbles of "Pervert", "How disgusting", and that one "You lucky son of a bitch" His chest began beating louder and louder before he suddenly got control of his body.

In a second, not only did Tomu manage escape death by bolting off the female and taking off down the street, but he had also managed one last quick squeeze. The only thing left for evidence of the perverted act, was a few droplets of blood on her mesh covered stomach.

Scowling and sitting up from the ground, the female glared at the small plume of smoke slowly fading out of her vision. "Fucking Gaki...!" She snarled before letting out a long sigh of annoyance. "Forget it, he's just a kid. And by the looks of it a rookie ninja." The female muttered before an evil glint flash through her eyes. "But if I see that kid again, I'm gonna feed him to my snakes!" She said in a low tone.

"Now," The female mumbled before an innocent smile appeared on her face. "Time for Dango~" The woman sang and brought a hand to her face, only to bite on nothing. Blinking, the purple haired female looked down in confusion, only for her eyes to widen in shock.

Rolled around in the dirt and mud were her Dango balls, brown and covered with unwanted substances. The female looked down at her lost food with a slowly shaking head and gaping mouth. Quickly, her mouth turned into a fierce sneer as she jumped to her feet with a kunai in hand. "THAT LITTLE SHIT! HE RUINED MY DANGO!" She roared in rage and took off after the dust trail, a blazing fury clear in her chocolate eyes.

"GET BACK HEEEERE!"

* * *

Tomu panted as hard as he ever had before in his life. He didn't know how, but he was still alive. 'I can't believe I escaped Ms. Psycho!' Tomu thought, his eyes blinking away tears of relief and happiness. He even had hysterical chuckles coming from his lips.

Then the thought of 'I did lose her right?' came into being. He felt more tears come, but this time of fear. He hesitated, but he forced himself to stand up and look out of the trashcan he was currently hiding in. The lid had made a small creaking sound, making Tomu recoil in fear and pause.

He stood stock-still and listened. Nothing.

Taking a long breath to calm his nerves, Tomu dared himself to stand up with the lid taken off. He wiped his eyes as a nervously relieved smile appeared on his face.

He had just escaped death. NO, the _Shinigami!_ Tomu could still feel the blood pumping through his chest as if it was gonna explode at random from the sheer pressure. 'That purple haired lady almost ripped my head off!' Tomu thought and shuddered as he tried getting out of the trashcan. "All because of some stupid Dango..." Tomu muttered, only to hear a distant growl.

"Did you just call Dango stupid?" A voice echoed.

Tomu's skin had just turned as white as a sheet and a feeling of dread washed over his body. Tomu's head felt like a rusty door, the kind that make that long and annoying _creeeak_ noise whenever you move it slowly. That's what his neck sounded like. To him maybe. He looked back only to see a wall, but slowly his eyes traveled upward and there _she_ was.

The woman with the purple hair and trench coat was glaring down on him, a long kunai in her left hand. She was actually standing against the wall, like she was glued to the bricks.

Tomu's eyes widened in terror as he tried to run on instinct, only to forget where he was and tipped over the trashcan in his action of panic. The teen made a small yelping noise as he face-planted in the dirt and the trashcan emptied all of its contents on his back.

"That's pretty pathetic." He heard a dark snicker coming from the lady as she kneeled against the wall, taking on a pouncing stance. Tomu's pores started to unleash sweat once more as he looked at the female. "S-Stay away from me!" He tried only to see the female give a toothy grin.

"Sorry no can do."

"W-Why!?"

"Because, not only did you destroy my Dango," The lady's eyes flared hotly. "You managed to feel me up."

Tomu felt his heart drop into his stomach. "Sooo, is there like a chance where we can sort this out like civilized people?" He asked slowly and nervously. The purple haired kunoichi only licked her kunai menacingly. "I thought so." He whimpered as he watched her drag her tongue to the tip of the metal weapon.

Even though he knew he was staring at death incarnate, that little action seemed to get him at least a bit... excited. Hey, boy in puberty here.

Without a warning, the lady had leapt from her spot towards Tomu; kunai ready to attack.

* * *

**CLIFFHANGERS! They suck in every possible way, physically and mentally! But I guess that's the only way to get readers to stay excited.**

**Anyway, please review the fic so I know the touching and loving feelings people have for me or the ugly ass flames that people put up for shits and giggles. Please guys, no flames; I'm black as can be already. But only flame to tell us what to take out of the story. Good? Good! Alright see ya guys later! I'll try to update when I can! Since you know, school and shit...**

**REVIEW!**


	2. The Day Just Gets Weirder

**Hellooooo~ I'm baa-a-aack! Wassup everybody for the King of Swag has returned with a new update! I must have a shout out and say thanks to all the readers that are currently reading our fic! And by our, I mean our other two creators/helpers: Cheshire-Cat-Chan and Spider-mantheraper! Come out to the spot light!**

**Cheshire-Cat-Chan: 'Sup bitch! Hello readers!**

**Spider-mantheraper: Yeah, hey guys.**

**King of Swag: Now that the group is back, why don't we do disclaimers?**

**Cheshire-Cat-Chan: OOH ME PICK ME! PICK ME DAMMIT!**

**King of Swag: (O_o!) Okaaaay...?**

**Cheshire-Cat-Chan: Yes! We do not own Naruto! If I did, everything would be hardcore Yaoi Smut!**

**King of Swag/Spider-mantheraper: It's true (Deadpan)**

**King of Swag: Now read or else! (Points finger menacingly)**

* * *

**Chapter 2: The Day Just Gets Weirder**

Tomu let out a shrill scream before his natural reflexes told him to bolt. He quickly rolled to the right to avoid getting stabbed from a kunai as the female landed silently on her feet. Tomu had jumped to his feet and spun on his heels to run; only to smash his face into bricks. "GAH!" He cursed as he held his bruised nose before opening an eye.

"Of course this alley-way has a dead-end." He mumbled in frustration before hearing a giggle/hiss. His eyes widened before he turned around to see a clearly amused purple haired female smirk at him. "Wow, you're really dumb aren't you?" The female taunted and Tomu scowled.

"Sh-Shut up! And leave me alone dammit!" He barked.

"Hm, how about... no." The female said as she took a step forward, making Tomu press his back against the brick wall. He wanted to run until he heard clicking sounds behind him. Wondering what it was, Tomu hesitantly reached back and soon had a sweatdrop. "How can I be such a retard..." He muttered before both hands were reaching behind his head.

The female rose a brow as Tomu gripped two handles on his back before long metallic blades were released from their sheathes. Tomu narrowed his eyes at the female, who in return had a sly grin on her face. "Aw how cute. Gaki actually has the balls to fight back."

"Of course I have the balls. Wanna check and see my point?" Tomu said, a little shakily, but nonetheless feeling gutsy now that he had his swords out.

"Hm, maybe if you were a bit older..." The woman cooed mockingly and Tomu grinned as well. "I guess I'll have to wait a few years huh?"

"Like I said, maybe..."

The two continued to stare at each other in silence before Tomu decided to break the silence. "Shokku Tomu." He informed.

"Mitarashi Anko." The newly addressed Anko nodded. "Cute name, Gaki." Tomu didn't notice the small spark of interest/surprise flash through her eyes.

Tomu sweatdropped. "Are you really gonna keep calling me that?"

"Of course. You're still a brat no matter how mature you act." Tomu looked like he was gonna retort. "You can't call yourself a man unless you either had sex or killed someone. And looking at you, I can tell you've done neither." Anko said, her eyes traveling over Tomu's form in a teasing suspicion.

Tomu rose a cocky brow and flashed his teeth at the woman in the form of a smile. "Oh don't worry, I'll have both of them done soon." He declared. Tomu could've sworn he saw his mother in place of Anko as the woman stared at him with blank eyes. He was a bit nervous that Anko might attack him for the sex part, but that was until... "Death... Isn't something to make light of you know..." Anko whispered in a low tone and Tomu felt his sweat returning. He noticed her hand was clutching her, unnaturally long kunai a bit tighter than usual.

'Seriously what is wrong with this lady!? First she wants to kill me, then she teases me, and now she's a quiet daydreamer!?' Tomu thought in confusion before a blank expression came to his face. 'Why does she remind me of Aki-chan?' An image of a certain newly made kunoichi flashed through his mind, adding to his sweatdrop.

Tomu continued to stare at Anko while she was busy daydreaming, unless the dazed look in her eyes meant something else. Tomu had dared himself to take one step forward only to realize it to be a mistake.

_THUNK!_

"Huh?" With a pale face, Tomu had a nervous smile as he looked to his left where a kunai was embedded through a crack between two bricks; 3 centimeters from his face. He had beads of sweat rolling down his skin before his eyes flashed at Anko, who once again had a sadistic glint in her eyes. "Don't think you can go anywhere just yet. You still need punishment." She growled deviously.

'Wow, if I wasn't backed into a corner against a murderous psycho, that would've been SUCH a turn on.' Tomu thought with a small blush adorning his cheeks. He shook his head to get the thought out of his head, before he narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on his sword handles. "So Anko..." Said female perked up slightly. "Why don't you, let's say... Let me go? You see I gotta be somewhere and I'm already late."

"Oh really?" Anko asked, sounding interested. "What can so important that it beats my Dango and groping my tits?" She said, pulling 3 kunai out of her trench coat. Anko's tone dripped with danger and Tomu steeled his posture, his feet planted firmly to the ground.

"Well you see, I'm gonna be assigned to a ninja team today. And you're holding me up."

"So you ARE a rookie." Anko said with a laugh. "That explains why you're so easy to tease."

"It's only easy because you're so damn sexy."

"Thanks, but flattery will get you nowhere. Literally."

"Damn."

"Nice try though. 'A' for effort." Anko said before the duo returned to their silence. They stared at each other, waiting for any sign of movement. Tomu's breathing got lighter, almost unnoticeable to an untrained ear. He was ready for a fight, even if it meant being held up more before his team assignment. But right now, he believes living is better than becoming a Genin.

Anko only stood with a bored expression on her face, twirling her kunai through her fingers. She wanted to attack the teen in front of her, but there was two reasons to why she didn't. 1.) It was a common way to get under a person's skin; just stall long enough for them to lose their nerve. But for her other reason 2.) She was interested in the child.

As she stared at him, he had a spark of determination flash through his pupils. Sure there was fear in them due to her actions and method of teasing, but nonetheless he was ready to fight against her if need to. 'So he's just ignoring his fear? That's strange, usually a rookie, even grown men, would be on their knees begging for me to let them live. What's this kid's deal...?' Anko thought in silence, though a small hum escaped her lips.

Tomu felt his patience start to thin out. 'Fine if she's not gonna fight me, then I'll just take my leave!' He sucked his teeth before adding a bit of chakra to his legs. Without warning and actually catching Anko of guard, Tomu had jumped to the skies and started bolting across rooftops in such pace that a coward would be envious of.

"H-Hey! Get back here!" Anko stammered before leaping upwards as well. That's when she saw a bouncing Tomu across roof over roofs.

Tomu had been racing across the rooftops, his speed not decreasing in the slightest, but slowly raising with each jump. His legs were practically blurs at this point. And without the need of his weapons unless he was in a fight, his swords were placed back inside their sheathes.

Tomu panted lightly as he leapt to another roof, surprising a civilian woman who was talking to someone from her window. Academy. His focus was pinpointed on that. 'Just gotta get to the damn academy...!' He thought with a small strain as he saw a familiar school a few miles away. 'Dammit why the hell did they put it so far away!?' Tomu growled.

Without the need for music at the moment, Tomu had been able to notice the small things. Like what spots would be great for landing and running on... and those shimmering lights coming at his right.

Thunk, Thunk, Thunk!

Tomu did a backflip to another roof before his sandals skidded against the wet surface. The black haired teen looked up quickly to where he was last standing. Three kunai were sticking from the wooden roof. His eyes narrowed. "Wow, you're actually pretty good Gaki. You sure you're not a ninja?"

Tomu looked back and this time he wasn't surprised to see Anko standing against the brick wall of an apartment home, like a spider. He sucked his teeth and pointed at the female. "Would you just leave me alone!?" He blinked in confusion and slight annoyance when Anko only batted her eyelashes and pouted. She put a finger on her lips to add to her innocent little girl act.

"But I thought you like our game?" She cooed.

Tomu's right brow twitched. "Yeah I really enjoy bieng chased around by a psychotic kunoichi just because I tripped off a roof, crashed into her, dropped her damn Dango, and grabbed her boobs on accident." He deadpanned.

"So you DO like our game!"

"No I don't!"

"Yes you do!"

"No I don't!

"Then why are you blushing?"

"... Fine maybe a little."

"HA!"

"Grr," Tomu growled as Anko laughed. 'I really need to get away from this chick! I've only known her for 20 minutes and she's gonna drive me insane!' Tomu racked his brain for ideas until a familiar smell drifted into his nose.

When Anko stopped laughing, she let out an amused sigh before pulling out another kunai. "Thanks for the laugh, but I guess this is the end of our fun. It was actually nice to meet you-"

"Look a Dango stand!" Tomu suddenly blurted out, pointing behind the purple haired kunoichi. Anko's eyes widened in surprise and Tomu sweatdropped when she actually looked down. "GASP, Dango!?" Anko gaped with sparkling eyes and a small trail of drool on her chin.

Tomu blinked slowly. Sure it wasn't a pure lying diversion, but... Anko suddenly perked up and turned to Tomu with a kunai. "No wait, must finish this first!" She took a long sniff before her food crazed face returned. "But the Dango..."

"Gaki!"

"Dango!"

"Gaki!"

"Dango!"

By now Tomu's sweatdrop was hitting the center of the earth by this strange scene. Wasn't she supposed to be a professional ninja? 'Damn, why are girls so damn weird?' He shuddered and swore he heard 'Troublesome' from the streets. While Anko was busy with her battle of what to do, Tomu wanted to add a bit more insurance.

"Look they're having a sale! 70% off!" That did it.

Anko had actually shot off the wall like she was shot from a cannon, smashing into the crowds before rushing to the front of the stand; yelling "DANGO!" like a maniac. She pulled out her coins and threw them in the person's face before forcing Dango after Dango in her mouth like a rabid wolf.

Chuckling sheepishly, Tomu pointed to the left where the Academy was located. "Yeah well I'm gonna go, so... bye bitch!" Tomu laughed and took off once more, this time sure that he had escaped the 'crazy Dango-loving weirdo' for real this time.

Although for both of them, a viciously eating Anko and a smirking Tomu in victory, things between them were only beginning...

* * *

**Earlier...**

The classroom A116 had been rowdy the second students started pouring in from the door. Friends had been chatting up a storm with their buddies, mostly about ninja related stuff and what their achievements were to get this far. Hell, even the excitement somehow managed to rile up the quiet ones. If anybody could ask what the excitement was about, nobody would have a problem telling them that it's graduation day. For students, it's a chance to show off their skills and act tough, for teachers it's good riddance to little shits that frustrate them.

Everybody was happy and excited; well everybody except a certain female who crossed her arms in the front row.

"Are you fucking kidding me right now? He's late, again!" The female scowled, a small growl heard through her gritted teeth.

The female had dark brown hair and slightly pale skin. Her hair was in a style that allowed it to hang over her face, mostly her right eye with her dark blue headband over scalp. Her eyes where chocolate brown.

Her attire was simple; her shirt was a turquoise short sleeved turtle neck (Neji's type of shirt). She had fishnets under it that went down to her wrists. She had black shorts, almost skin tight, that stopped an inch above her knees. Covering the bottom half of her legs were black and white wrappings that stopped at open tied sandals that also showed her heels. On her hands were fingerless gloves with thin metal plates over the knuckles.

As the female huffed angrily and sat back in her chair with puffed up cheeks, a classmate on her right only chuckled softly. "I told you Akiko, he was gonna be late." A male voice commented/taunted.

Hiyashi Akiko didn't look to whoever spoke to her. All she did was raise a hand and flick him off with her middle finger. The classmate had laughed at her rude gesture. "Oh well if you want I won't stop you." That little joke only added to Akiko's rage as her eyes narrowed and her pupils traveled to meet the 'dead' classmate.

The classmate was a Hyuuga, a member of one of the most powerful clans in Konohagakure. His hair was a dark brown and bushy, almost unkept. The Hyuuga was wearing red; a LOT of it. His short sleeved shirt was red, albeit the thick black lines going down the sleeves and from collar to waist. His shorts were red with another set of thick black lines, one that went around his waistline like a belt while the last two went down each side of the shorts. He had white wrapping over his shins and hands, but the only skin showing on his hands were on his fingers. He also had the standard open toes sandals. On his forehead was a dark read colored headband.

The Hyuuga snickered at the glare he was being given. Her narrowed his white eyes back with a mocking grin. "Oi, don't get pissed because I won the bet."

"You cheated." Akiko growled.

"And how did I cheat? If I recall, I was with you all day yesterday training till our bodies gave out."

"I don't know, but somehow you did."

"Wow, the words of a sore loser. You shouldn't have agreed to the bet if you could hold up your end of the deal."

"Fuck you Katsu-Baka."

"Nah, too tired." Hyuuga Katsu said with a fake yawn, but had to stop midway to dodge a tightly closed fist to the eye. He was laughing when Akiko put her head down on the desk, mumbling things about "Annoying Hyuuga Faggots..." Katsu had been laughing in his chair until a new voice reached the duos ears.

"Katsu, I think she's planning ways to kill you while you sleep." A female voice said, amusement in their tone.

Akiko didn't lift her head to reply and Katsu wiped a fake tear from his left eye. "Oh I know. But I sleep with my eyes open remember?" He said turning back to whoever spoke. It was another female, this time with chocolate brown eyes and hair tied into two buns on her head. Her attire had been Chinese based.

"Hey Tenten..." Akiko drawled, her face pressed against the desk and voice muffled.

The Chinese girl let out a giggle at her friend's mood. "So why are you pissed this early on a Friday?" She asked, leaning on the desk with her chin in hand. She raised a brow and slowly grinned when Akiko didn't respond. So Tenten had turned to Katsu as a last resort for answers.

Katsu grinned and pointed at his peeved friend. "She's upset because she lost a best she shouldn't have agreed to in the first place." He answered and Tenten blinked. "That's it? I thought it would be like you know, you punched her and ran away without a reason."

"I would never do that-" Tenten's gaze and even a small sideways glare from Akiko told Katsu to shut up.

Katsu felt a small tap on his shoulder and looked back. Behind him was another teenager, one that was a male wearing a Chinese martial arts robe and belt. His black hair was trimmed over his forehead and curled up in small spikes behind the neck. The most noticeable features of the male was his large black eyes and... REALLY thick eyebrows?

"Yo Lee, what's up?"

"Katsu-san, may I ask where is Tomu-kun?" Rock Lee questioned.

"He's running late." Katsu answered in a lazy tone.

"Again? But it's graduation day!" Tenten said with a cross look.

"Yeah and that's why I made that bet with Akiko over here." Katsu said, nudging Akiko in the arm, only to hear a dark growl. He backed off slowly and Rock Lee leaned over his desk to get a bit closer to Akiko.

"Akiko-san, are you alright?" He asked calmly.

"No." Akiko said flatly.

"What was the deal anyway?" Tenten questioned.

"Well knowing Tomu," Katsu began. "I had a feeling he'd still be late knowing his sleeping patterns. So after hearing my declaration, Akiko believes Tomu would change and show up on time for once and then we made a deal. The loser has to pay the winner 20 ryo." Katsu had a shit-eating grin plastered on his face when he finished and a dark raincloud floating above her head.

Lee's eyes went wide, well wider than before while Tenten face-palmed with a sigh. "Akiko..." She drawled slowly, disappoint/amusement clear in her voice. "We all know you're broke. Why would you bet against Katsu?"

"Because I thought I'd actually win this time." Akiko mumbled, a sour tone dripping from her mouth. She could already feel Katsu laughing at her, teasing her for days.

"Well, ya thought wrong! Hahaha!" Katsu started to lose control of his laughter. He was clutching his sides and rocking back 'n forth in his chair while tears pooled in his sockets.

_Thunk!_

The laughter had ceased as fast as it was possible. Tenten had a smirk on her face while Lee was trying to stifle his chuckles. Katsu, trying to keep a straight and calm face, had looked down. There, between his legs was a kunai that was stabbed into his seat, only a centimeter from his crotch. His sweat was racing out of his pores like mini wild horses before he looked to his left. Akiko was glaring angrily at him with a black aura radiating from her entire body. Her eyes were glowing red like a raging demon and she growled menacingly. "I-I'm sorry." Katsu apologized hesitantly.

Akiko gave him a warning gesture, aka the "I got my eyes on you" gesture that meant pain if he stepped out of order again. Katsu quickly nodded and Akiko had loosened her grip on her kunai, but she didn't pull it out of his chair. Katsu gulped silently as Akiko put her head back on the table. He reached down to the kunai and griped the handle, giving it a strong enough yank to pull it out of the wood.

His eyes widened as he saw a hole in the wood; the 3 inch mahogany wood. The kunai had pierced far enough that it stopped 4 inches from the tip!

'It went straight through!' Katsu thought with his skin turning a bit white. He looked hesitantly at Akiko. "A-Actually, w-w-why don't we just cancel the d-deal? D-Deal?"

In a VERY strange 180 in emotions, Akiko's head whipped up with the kindest smile she could muster. "DEAL!" She giggled like an innocent schoolgirl and Katsu let out a breath of relief and annoyance. 'Damn her and her Bi-Polar shit... I swear she does it on purpose!' He thought before the classroom doors opened up for a woman with thin rectangular glasses and a clipboard in hands to walk in.

The lady had long, wavy reddish-brown hair, cascading to a limit of 2 inches past her shoulders. Passed her glasses were a set dark purple eyes; the same color that adorned her lipstick and nail polish. Her skin had a tan, the type of tan a person would have if they went outside LOTS of times. Under her red button-up jacket was a blue turtleneck. The clothing on her legs was a tight dark red skirt with a blue sash wrapped around her waist. The skirt had hugged her thighs perfectly, just like the shirt outlining her luscious D-Cup chest. She had black stockings that ran down to her red high-heels.

All in all, she was the _teacher_ of all teachers!

It seemed that the female didn't realize that most of the male population of her classroom had been drooling as they ogled her legs, some eyes on her chest. Katsu was keeping his actions as low-key as possible when he realized Akiko _and_ Tenten were fingering their kunai hoister. With the rest of the female students quickly following in suit. Surprisingly, yet unsurprisingly were the guys that weren't head over heels turned on were Rock Lee, another Hyuuga in the class, and the gay Inuzuka in the corner.

The oblivious teacher adjusted her glasses with her right palm and smiled. "Good morning everyone." She greeted.

The class had spoken as one, as if they were a single being. "Good morning, Masako-sensei!"

Masako, or in full name Yokubo Masako, bowed her head as a small nod in return. "Now before I say anything else, I must take attendance. Say here once your name is called." Masako had instructed before counting off names in alphabetical order.

* * *

**A few calls later...**

"Higurashi Tenten?"

"Here!"

"Hiyashi Akiko?"

"Here~"

"Hyuuga Katsu?"

"Sup."

"..."

"Sorry, here."

"Hyuuga Neji?"

"Here."

"Shokku Tomu?"

"..." The female teacher blinked in confusion at the silence.

"Tomu?" She asked again. Masako saw Akiko raise her hand.

"We apologize Masako-sensei, but it seems Tomu-Baka wants to be late again." Akiko deadpanned and Masako gave a small sigh.

"I expected better from him, especially on a special day like this. Oh well, guess it can't be helped." Masako had gave another sigh of disappointment before snapping her pen on her clipboard and putting the clipboard at her thigh. The teacher gave her students a large smirk, giving them each a full view to her pearly whites. The students, all of them knew what was gonna go down. Katsu had a smug grin on his face as he adjusted his headband a bit higher.

"Congratulations everybody!" Masako finally exploded in cheers. She was clapping happily and a few students were laughing along with her. "You don't know how proud I am when I say that you're all protectors of Konohagkure!" Masako declared and some students began to grow a small ego. Masako's smirk got sly. "Plus, it's also surprising to see such young adults form from such snot-nosed Gakis. Am I right?" She joked, earning a few playful glares from the audience. Though the over-dramatic Katsu felt the need to be the only one to bellow a loud "OOOOH SHE TOLD US!"

Masako gave Katsu a small glare that told him to calm down. "Okay then, now on to pressing matters." Masako coughed into her hand lightly. "I'm sure you're all aware of the dangers that await you on the outside correct?" She asked, her tone becoming a bit more serious. She had taken notice to a few smug students nodding with the expression that deciphered a message. A message that said "Don't worry Masako-sensei, nothing can kill me!"

"Students, as it is my duty to make sure you're ready to become real Genin, I am asked to ask you one question." Masako said, earning raised brows throughout the room. Masako took in a small intake of air. "Will you all be willing to fight to the end, even if it means costing you your life? Your loved ones as well?"

The room had been engulfed by an eerie silence, the usually cheery atmosphere disappearing the second Masako finished the last syllable. They usually cocky children had easily lost their smiles, grins, and/or smirks. Students slowly began to murmur, most of them actually thinking hard about their future. 'For our life?' Most of them thought at once. Masako's question had actually left a mark within the students, the mark acting as a parasite that slowly began to attack their mind. The type of parasite that would cause fear to grow.

Masako had sighed deeply. "I was afraid to do this, but if I have to push you all a bit farther to see the truth..." Masako's eyes narrowed and a sudden wave of KI washed over the children. In the widened eyes of many students, their teacher, the usually cheery and nice Masako had looked like a monster that was ready to pounce on its prey. The teacher's hair had slowly blew from a nonexistent force.

Some students' fear began to grow to their limits due to the constant flashes of their imagined deaths at the hands of their enemy. Or in this case, Masako.

Masako had a mental alarm in her head that told her to cease her KI waves before one of her students had a heart-attack or seizure. As the teacher reabsorbed all the negative aura back towards her, she opened her eyes slowly and had a slightly downcast shimmer in her eyes. Students were panting and huffing like they had been running for days, sweat going through their clothing as well. The only few individuals that weren't effected to a high degree were the 2 Hyuuga clan members of the class and Akiko. Those three had looked to be only a little shaken up, with narrowed eyes at their teacher.

"While I apologize for that horrible experience," Masako began softly, trying not to alarm her students anymore than she already had. "It was of utmost importance to show the new generation what awaits them. Now I must ask again; will you fight for your home, at the risk of your life? If you decline, I give you permission to leave." Masako got a few nods from several students as teen after teen quickly shuffled to their feet and bolted for the door. Only 3/4 of the class was still present.

Masako raised a calculating brow at the remaining students. "Are you 100 percent certain you're ready for the life of a ninja?" She asked in a serious tone.

In the second row closest to the front, Rock Lee shakily raised his hand. "M-Masako-sensei," He stuttered. The imprint of seeing a demonic version of their beloved teacher had scarred him greatly. "If I may speak, I have to announce my disappointment in those who left." Lee declared, making some eyes blink at him in confusion. Masako's was a part of those blinking eyes, telling him to continue. "While your little display had been an eye-opener for the future, I won't lie when I say I'm as scared as those who left."

"Then tell me Lee, why do you stay?"

"Because I want to set an example to all." Lee stated boldly. "I want to prove that anybody who has enough bravery and determination to become a ninja can protect what they truly care about. However, those who had just left are cowards; cowards who don't have enough will to fight for what's important. If they can't handle the pressure of becoming a ninja, then I say don't label them as saviors. Because WE are the TRUE PROTECTORS!" Lee finished with a fist to the chest, standing up from his seat in front of everyone. Next to him was Tenten, also one of the many students who wanted to bail for their life. But like others after hearing Lee's speech, gradually began to understand what it meant to be a ninja.

The Chinese girl gave a curt nod at the boy standing in front of her. Neji, who sat a row behind them scoffed, but nonetheless was a bit impressed at his bold claim. Akiko had a VERY confident smirk on her face as she smashed a fist into her hand, cracking her knuckles. Akiko had turned her head to see Katsu's reaction to Lee's speech, only to sweatdrop once she saw her childhood friend in tears.

"S-So inspirational..." Katsu wept, wiping his eyes with his hands. Akiko shook her head before patting his back soothingly and muttering "You're such a bitch."

Masako continued to stare at Lee with inspecting eyes. She didn't need to be a Yamanaka to know that a lock was being wrapped around in chains; aka their fears being beaten down by their determination.

Masako continued to stare for a few seconds in silence before her kind smile returned. "Congratulations you passed your first test." She said, hearing a relieved breaths illuminating from around the class. Or in Lee's case, a large vacuum being put in reverse as he fell back in his chair with his hand on his heart. "Oh Kami, that was intense." He said aloud.

Nobody seemed to hear a "That's what she said" and a quick slap afterwards. Though there were a few giggles.

Masako had a few chuckles escape her purple lips before she raised her clipboard to her face. "Now it's finally time to assign you all your teams." Masako said and expected to hear a few cheers, but looked up to remember that she had exposed the horror of Killer Intent. The kids looked a bit exhausted, less physically then mentally. She chuckled apologetically/sheepishly and scratched her left cheek. "Oops, I guess I have to warn some Jonin that their teams are not present anymore. Hehe." Masako said and looked at the clipboard.

"Alrighty, now to start things off with Team 1 that consists of Shokku Tomu, Hyuuga Katsu, and Hiyashi Akiko," A sound of a loud high-five radiated through the classroom, catching Masako off guard. Even more so with the sudden impulsive shout of "It's threesome now!" and a head slamming against desk. Masako blinked in annoyance and amusement as Akiko sat up with an innocent smile while a smoking, lumpy head of Katsu resided in a cracked desk. Akiko coughed nervously, signaling Masako to continue. "...Okay so that the Genin of Team 1. Your Jonin sensei is a kunoichi named Mitarashi Anko."

Akiko gave a quick nod and violently shook Katsu's head against his desk as if he was 'nodding'.

Masako continued. "Team 2 consists of Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee, and Higurashi Tenten. Your Jonin sensei is Might Gai." Those who had there names listed nodded their heads in response.

While Rock Lee seemed a bit disappointed for an unknown reason, Tenten seemed to be a bit happy. Akiko was still cheering silently while Katsu groaned as he raised his head from the desk. Akiko, caught up in her cheering, accidently exploded in a flurry of silent 'Hurray's and shooting her arms outward. Her right fist reached Katsu's head, sending him flying from his chair and knocking him out in the process.

With an unconscious Hyuuga behind a desk, Masako didn't see a twitching Katsu as she continued to list off the teams.

In only a few minutes, Masako was done listing off the teams and the Jonin names. She had her congrats smile gracing her lips once more and looked like she was about to say something, only for the classroom door to be kicked open. Masako had a small flinch when the door smacked against the wall. She looked back to see a purple haired woman with only a mesh shirt and a trench coat, holding Dango. A LOT of Dango. And from the bulges from inside the trench coat, it seemed that she has more hidden for later.

Ignoring the clear ogling from the boy of the class, Anko spoke out with 3 Dango sticks sticking from her mouth. "Team 1?" Akiko quickly raised her hand. Anko raised a brow when she was the only one. Akiko blinked before looking to her side. She quickly bent down, leaving Anko's view for a second before she was seen again lifting up a still unconscious Katsu by the wrist. Akiko smiled and Anko rolled her eyes. "I'm guessing the third one has yet to get here?" Anko asked and everybody seemed to nod at once.

Anko had a small sigh. "Alright, hurry up and bring your lazy friend and meet me up on the roof." Anko instructed before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Akiko had a happy squeal of excitement before she jumped over the desk. She had accidently forgotten she was holding onto an unconscious Hyuuga and Katsu's head got caught underneath the desk, causing Akiko to jerk back and land on her ass. The class sweatdropped when Akiko started to let loose a stream of curses before getting up and reaching over the desk. She gripped Katsu by his collar and shook violently. "You asshole! Wake up dammit!" She barked and continued to violently shake her comrade.

Katsu only had a bobbing head and a long trail of drool hanging from his bottom lip. Gaining a tick-mark on her forehead, Akiko's fingers clenched the cloth of Katsu's shirt tighter before she threw the Hyuuga into the air. In no less then 2 seconds, Akiko jumped up and did a spinning roundhouse kick that launched Katsu through the already open door of the classroom. The Hyuuga smashed into the hallway wall and Akiko ran after him, grabbing his shirt and running towards the steps. Everybody heard "Damn, he's still asleep! That should've woken him up!"

After standing in silence, Masako and the rest of the class listened to the sound of running steps and the occasional "WAKE UP!" as the sounds got further away.

A few seconds later, a tall man with bushy eyebrows and a bowl haircut wearing a full-body green spandex suit walked in. He blinked in confusion and pointed down the hall. His mouth opened, but Masako just raised a hand.

"Don't ask."

* * *

"Ah, finally..." Masako said as Team 9 had walked out of the classroom, leaving the teacher to herself in the room. Masako let out a sigh of relief when she sat down in her chair, sinking into the cushion as if it were a bean-bag. The red-head blinked slowly, exhaustion raising to the surface of her features. Dealing with the academy graduates loud attitude, scaring them with her KI, and dealing with the duo of Team 1 had left her tired.

Masako shook her head and left a soft hand on her forehead. "I swear, Akiko and Katsu can be such a handful. And Tomu wasn't even here to say anything distracting. Just 2 of them, no ONE of them is troublesome enough." Masako whispered to herself, but a grin made its way to her face. While it was common knowledge to all that those specific 3 teenagers could drive Masako nuts within a matter of a solid minute, it was even more known information that Masako cares about the trio deeply. She was like their mother in school, the one who took care of them when either their real family nor their friends could help. And she could still remember how scared they were to join academy as children. That thought alone brought a large smile.

"Well, it was certainly amusing. Tomu had been so shy and fragile at the time, Akiko was a tomboy trying to pick fights, and Katsu was a rebel/wise ass. Before they even met each other they were a handful." Masako mumbled, seeing a feint image of a crying Tomu running after his mother when she first left him on his first day of school. Akiko was straddling another child's chest with a fist cocked to punch his lights in. Katsu had been in detention and wouldn't stop staring at her with his pale eyes, no matter how many times she told him to stop.

"Even though they're annoying Gakis, they were the life of the academy." Masako giggled before remembering her test only 20 minutes ago. How scared each of her students were would be forever imprinted in her mind. Her smile slowly disappeared. "Oh, I hope they'll be alright out there." Masako mumbled, but even so she didn't doubt their abilities.

Slowly from all her reminiscing about the past of her favorite trio, her eyes drooped downward to a close. "YAWN~ Hm, maybe a little nap would do me good..." She whispered before her vision eventually turned black.

_CRASH!_

"FUCK THAT HURT!"

The sudden noise of something smashing through something had caused Masako to flinch so badly she fell out of her chair. With a flurry of panicked movement, Masako eventually brought herself up by using her desk as leverage. Her hair was disheveled and her eyes were wide, scanning for whatever caused the noise. It didn't take long for her to find the source and said source caused her right brow to twitch violently.

There rolling over broken glass and holding his head with a pained expression was Tomu, the supposed to be leader of the trio of misfits. The black haired teen continued to groan on the ground, moaning curse words that made Masako blush a bit before she shot up to her feet in anger. "TOMU!" She screeched, causing the teen to let go of his head and slam his hands on the ground that would've pushed him up in a panic. That was if there were no glass.

"KYAAA MEDIC!" Tomu screamed violently, holding his left hand that now had a few shards of glass stabbing his palm.

His head whipped to the side after a slap to the back of his skull. Masako stood over him, hands on her hips and eyebrows twitching. "You Baka!" She scolded while Tomu whimpered in more pain. He reached behind his head to rub the spot that was abused, only to accidentally use his injured hand. Ignoring more of his agony filled screams, Masako pointed to a jagged hole in the glass that should have been a window. "Why the hell did you fly through a window!?" She barked and Tomu shook his head quickly.

"I didn't mean to! I tripped on a roof again!"

"Tripping off a roof doesn't turn you into a human bullet!"

"Explain that to physics then!" Tomu shouted back and Masako scowled before face-palming. Yep, just one of them can annoy the living shit out of her. She wanted so much to yell at him to clean up the shattered glass and get another window, but she was one of the people who wanted to see Tomu become a ninja. So even though he was late, smashed through the window and almost gave her a heart-attack, she decided to let him off with a warning and point to the door.

Tomu looked at the door, or most likely a Katsu shaped crater imprinted in the wall. "Just go already. I sent Katsu and Akiko to meet your sensei, Mita-"

She was rudely cut off by Tomu as he stood up, the glass crunching underneath his feet, and cursing aloud once more. "Dammit! Aki-chan kicked Katsu's ass and I missed it!? Come on that's not fair!" Tomu whined like a baby, seemingly forgetting that Masako was twitching violently next to him. Tomu's eyes widened before he rushed forward. "Maybe I can catch up to them and see if Katsu's crippled now!" He laughed before turning left down the hallway. Though after he took off from his spot in the broken glass, he didn't notice the pair of arms that reached towards his neck. Masako was upset, no a better term: PISSED. Nobody ignores her!

Masako only watched Tomu run along the halls, his laughter fading away. Slowly her anger left as she took in a long breath and let it back out to calm her nerves. "Don't get angry. I'm sure telling Yuri-san about the window will be enough punishment later." Masako muttered with an evil smirk along with her hands rubbing against each other.

* * *

**A bit earlier on the rooftop...**

Mitarashi Anko only leaned against the wall with the last stick of Dango hanging from her mouth. In front of her, sitting on steps with annoyed scowls were Akiko and a bruised Katsu. "Where. Is. He?" Akiko gritted through her teeth, her arms crossed and her nails digging into her fishnets. They didn't even start with introductions! The only things Anko said was "So you're the Gakis I have to teach?", "We'll wait for the last of us to join before anything else is said.", and finally "Who likes Dango?"

Katsu huffed and rubbed his bruised right cheek. That was the spot Akiko had kicked him that sent him flying into a wall. "I don't know Akiko, but maybe you should calm down before someone dies." He said and felt a slight point that lightly pierced the crotch area of his shorts. He immediately shut himself up and the kunai was taken away from his jewels.

Anko had looked at the duo with a smirk. Or more specifically, a kunai fingering Akiko with a peeved expression. 'Huh, so that's how the girl acts? That's interesting to say the least. Just like me as a little girl,' Anko's eyes somehow drifted lower and a sly grin made its way to her face. 'Though I have to say my chest was a bit bigger.' Anko thought as she compared to her childhood solid C-Cup chest to Akiko's current size; which was at the boundary between B and C Cups. Still close to a B...

Next up was Katsu. The Hyuuga clan member was leaning back and picking his ear with a bored expression. 'So the brat is a Hyuuga, but he isn't like the rest of his clan. He's a laid back and outgoing, totally opposite from the simple stoic expressions each Hyuuga has. Hm, maybe if this works out as well I want it to go, he'll become an excellent ninja. As well as this Akiko chick. But that third one,' Anko tapped her chin in wonder. 'Wait, what was his name again?'

While Anko was busy with her silent thinking, Katsu finally let out a frustrated growl. "That's it! I can't take it anymore!" He made a few handsigns and had a small outburst of "Byakugan!" and his veins surrounding his eyes bulged. Akiko looked at her friend with a relieved face. "Thank Kami, can you see where he's at?"

In Katsu's eyes, everything was black and white and whatever had chakra inside it had blue glowing lines moving through their body. His vision began to look at different spots before it quickly focused on a moving chakra source coming from the staircase. Katsu blinked in surprise and pointed to the door. "Oh wow, he's here." Akiko looked at the door with narrowed eyes and a kunai in her hand. "Oh, he's so gonna get it for making us wait." She mumbled.

It seemed that Anko wasn't paying attention to reality as the door was pushed open. The teen duo was expecting "Sorry for being late" or "What's up guys" but instead they heard a loud scream that abruptly knocked Anko out of her thinking. "GAH! Why the hell are YOU here!?" Anko blinked quickly and her eyes focused on what was in front of her. All she saw was a familiar black haired teen point at her with a bloody hand with glass in it.

"Eh? Is that you Gaki?" Anko said at a lost for words.

* * *

**And it's another Cliffhanger! I hope you all enjoyed my latest update of Team Crazy! But while I'm here, I'm gonna be real with you guys. While I'm pretty much covered with moments of meeting with the original Naruto cast, my collab partners and I are having trouble thinking of missions that don't seem like a rip-off to the show. I would appreciate if anybody can think of missions and send them to me via Private Messaging me. I would gladly talk with people of details and try to change them to fit my ideal plot. And if I DO put another's mission into the story, I'll put down the username of the author that assisted me each time.**

**But enough of that, any words of criticism?**

**Cheshire-Cat-Chan: Fucking EPIC dude! Seeing it come along like this is great!**

**Spider-mantheraper: Hn, yeah it looks cool.**

**Me: Spider you ass. Anyway, thanks again for reading and I hope you all review to our work! I promise I'll try to update soon, but production will be slow! You know cause we're straining with missions and dealing with daily life things. **

**Okay PEACE!**

**(Remember: PM me if you want your original mission added to this fic. Just list the rank, names, plots, and skills. I'll talk them over with people. Also REVIEW! SEE YA LATER!)**


	3. Two 'Worlds' Collide!

**The King of Swag: Hello everybody!**

**Cheshire-Cat-Chan: Yup, what's good!?**

**Spider-mantheraper: Yeah, sup guys.**

**King of Swag: So I had just updated my fic, Team Crazy! And all of you are still interested enough to continue reading!**

**All of us: AND WE THANK YOU!**

**Spider-mantheraper: It's good to know we are the heart of your newest entertainment.**

**Cheshire-Cat-Chan: And because of that, we're gonna keep going with the fic!**

**King of Swag: ... well until something happens.**

**Cheshire-Cat-Chan: Dude, you freakin' jinxed us!**

**King of Swag: Sorry, I didn't mean to!**

**Cheshire-Cat-Chan: LIAR!**

**Spider-mantheraper: (Laughs at arguing partners) We don't own Naruto, just our OC.**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Two 'Worlds' Collide!**

"What are YOU doing here!?" Tomu exclaimed dramatically, pointing at the purple haired woman in front of him.

Anko blinked in puzzlement at the pointing finger before pointing to herself. "Me?" She said dumbly. Tomu's eyes twitched. "Yes! YOU!" He barked.

The Jonin level kunoichi wanted to say something to the child, but as soon as she tried to form words she noticed the hand that was pointing at her was covered in blood. Anko raised a hand to point at the Tomu's red left hand. "Um, are you okay Gaki?" She said with a little snicker at the end. Tomu only just realized that his hand, that still had shards of glass embedded in his flesh, was pointing at Anko before he pulled it back and cradled it with a pained groan. "Dammit!" He winced.

"You suuure you okay?" Anko asked, almost teasingly.

"Shut up! This isn't funny!" Tomu snapped back.

"It is kinda funny, Gaki."

"You wouldn't be laughing if you had glass in your hand!"

"I know I wouldn't, that's why I'm glad I don't and you do."

As Tomu growled at the smirking purple haired Jonin, two certain academy graduates just watched the scene play out from the sidelines. Akiko sat in her spot with a perplexed expression glued to her face while a finger pointed at Tomu then Anko. "Wait wha... do they know each other?" She muttered in confusion, only to hear a lazy snort behind her. "Seems so Akiko." Akiko didn't need to look back to know that Katsu had an amused and relaxed look on his face. The Hyuuga had his arms behind his head as he chuckled at everyone on the roof.

Tomu had just appeared, late as usual, with a bloody hand with glass stabbing into his skin before yelling at their soon-to-be sensei.

Anko, a lady he has yet to figure out due to his lack of consciousness in the first 15 minutes, had called his friend Gaki and seem to know him.

And Akiko just looked like an emotionally confused chick to him. Happy at certain moments (Calling off deal), angry a LOT of moments (Tomu's lateness), and now too confused to think straight. So mix being angry at her friend being late and being confused at what's happening equals a brain-dead Hiyashi Akiko.

Katsu chuckled to himself. Sure, while everything seemed the most amusing to him, like Akiko he was a bit confused as well. Like Akiko, Katsu had expected Tomu to just arrive like he usually would; burst in the room in a rush and say apologies repeatedly to keep Akiko's wrath away. Maybe even hurt himself a bit. So far only one thing he expected had happened and that was hurting himself. All Tomu did was rush through the door with a bloody hand, then IGNORE them just to point at their sensei for something not yet revealed.

Katsu scratched his chin slowly. "Interesting, very interesting." He muttered to himself.

Tomu finally had enough of being left out of the loop and turned to his friends. "Will someone tell me why SHE's here!?" Tomu said, pointing at Anko with his good hand this time.

Tomu's sudden demand of an answer had snapped Akiko out of her stupor. The brown haired girl blinked before narrowing her eyes in a glare at her best friend. "And why should we tell you? You're late! Again!"

"I don't care!" Tomu said quickly. "I just wanna know why she's here!"

"'Why are we all here?' is the question." Katsu said before Tomu and Akiko shouted "Shut up!" back to him. Katsu only shrugged with a grin before leaning back.

Akiko looked back at Tomu. "Now what do you mean you don't care!? This is the day we become Genin, Baka!" Akiko screamed.

Anko perked up a bit at the mention of the word Genin. "Oh yeah, well now that we're all he-"

"I woke up late okay! It was bound to happen on a special day!" Tomu shouted back. Anko's brow twitched in annoyance. 'Did he just?'

"Not unless you go to bed at the right time!"

"I do!"

"When!?"

"11:49!"

"That's too damn late you idiot!"

"I'm not an idiot!"

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm not dammit!"

"Yes you are!"

"No-"

"YOU'RE BOTH IDIOTS NOW SHUT UP!" Anko's sudden bellow stopped the previous yelling without an ounce of effort. Akiko made a small squeak and sat back in her seat while Tomu froze up like a soldier, hands slapped at his sides.

Anko had heard a low wince from the teen swordsman and growled. "Oh suck it up." She said bluntly, earning a glare that she easily brushed off. Anko pointed to a spot next to Katsu. "Now sit." Anko ordered and Tomu sucked his teeth. "Lady, I'm not a dog-"

"Sit." The sudden coldness in her tone made Tomu race to his designated spot.

The black haired teenager planted his behind on the steps and crossed his arms with a pout. 'I'm not a damn mutt.' Tomu thought/whined. Ignoring the mumbles of annoyance from the teenager, Anko had let out a slightly frustrated huff of air and put her hands on her waist. "Okay, now that you brats are finally quiet," She said, sending small glare at Tomu, earning a small flinch. "We can actually start the introductions." Anko informed before lazily raising a finger at the trio. "One of you Gakis, go first."

Tomu was the one to speak before his friends. "Um why don't you go first, Anko?" He asked with narrowed eyes. "After all, we know nothing about you. You probably know more about us than we do about you."

Anko's right eyebrow went up a bit. "Wow, observant aren't you?" She taunted with rolling eyes. "Okay fine, I'll go first."

Anko leaned against the railing and crossed her arms under her bust, pushing her assets upward in front of the trio. Tomu's nose twitched ever so slightly while Katsu nudged his side with an elbow, a sly grin on his face. Next to the duo, Akiko was slowly reaching for a kunai. "Okay, so as you all know my name is Mitarashi Anko. My likes are snakes, Dango," Tomu had stifled a chuckle at the key word. "and my job. My dislikes are perverts, Gakis," Tomu's smirk left and his eyes glared at her. "and a certain man." Anko's voice seemed to take on the tone of a murderer, cold and evil. Her eyes seemed to drift off and she went quiet soon afterwards.

Tomu raised a perplexed brow at the woman before he looked at his friends. They returned the confused look back at Tomu as both of them shrugged. Tomu's eyes flashed back to Anko. "Hm..." After a few seconds of silence, Tomu finally decided to break it with a loud clapping noise with his hands. The purple haired Jonin flinched a bit before her eyes seemed to focus back on the teenagers in front of her. Anko blinked in surprise before playing off her confusion with a sheepish chuckle. "Oops, sorry I must have dozed off." She apologized and scratched a cheek with a finger. "W-well where was I? Oh yeah, um my hobbies are training and working, uh _did_ work at the T&amp;I Department." Anko said with a sour tone at the end. (T&amp;I is Torture and Interrogation)

"And my goal is to... hunt down someone..." Once again Anko had drifted off into whatever thoughts were flowing around her head, causing Tomu to get annoyed and clap again. Anko woke back up with a few sputters before pointing to Akiko. "Y-You go first girly." She ordered and Akiko had a small growl at being called girly.

"Okay, my name is Hiyashi Akiko. My likes are my friends, weapons, and spiders." Anko rose a brow at the spiders part. "My dislikes are perverts and fan-girls. My hobbies are training and doing pranks with my friends." Akiko finished with a small smile. She went quiet so the next person could speak, but she noticed Anko roll her hand to continue on something. She blinked before she perked up in realization. "O-Oh! Um my dream is to work in the T&amp;I Department." Anko couldn't help, but have a sly grin on her face.

"Oh really? You know about that place, what they do?"

"Of course I do. I wouldn't wanna work there unless I knew what I was getting into."

"I see..." Anko said slowly, taking her goal into account. Soon she pointed to Katsu. "Hyuuga, you're up."

Katsu gave a lazy nod as he sat up in his spot. "Name's Hyuuga Katsu. My likes are training and hanging out with my friends. My dislikes are... hm, I actually don't know." Katsu said as he rubbed his chin in wonder. Anko looked at the teen with a sweatdrop. 'Yeah, he is definitely not like the rest of his clan.' Katsu soon shrugged it off and leaned back on his elbows. "My hobbies are training and hanging out with my friends. And my dream is to become the strongest Hyuuga ever in my clan." Katsu finished before nudging Tomu in his side again.

"You're up, dude."

"I know." Tomu muttered before looking at Anko with a pair of slightly narrowed eyes. "The name is Shokku Tomu. My likes are music, my friends, and reading. My dislikes are crazy people," He dared and Anko's eyes slowly narrowed. "and stuck-up people. My hobbies are reading, training, or finding new music. My goal is to become an ANBU Black Ops Captain." Tomu finally declared and Anko let out a whistle of improvement.

The Jonin stood up straight with an amused grin. "I can see now why you're all so interesting. You're all childhood friends, aren't you?"

The trio gave her a few nods, while Tomu's were a bit slow. He still doesn't trust her as much as his friends. "I see, and you all planned yourselves well after becoming ninjas?" Another set of nods. Anko's grin got wider. "Well I hope you have second plans, cause you're not ninjas yet!"

"Crazy lady say what now?" Tomu sputtered in confusion, his friends sharing his feelings on the matter through expressions as well.

"Yup, none of you are ninjas yet."

"But we graduated already!" Akiko exclaimed, getting a bit frustrated.

"Yeah..." Anko said a bit slowly. She had an amused look at their reactions. "That was just to pluck out the ones who has potential to become ninja. Ya know, just part 1 of the 2 part plan."

"And the second part?" Katsu questioned.

"It's up to the Jonin to test the rookies in a spar to go over their strategies and skill. If we deem their skills worthy, you'll become ninja. If not, well you'll be shipped back to the academy and try again later." Anko finished and looked at the teens in front of her. Akiko had a dropping jaw, not believing what she was hearing. Katsu had a shaking head muttering "I knew it wasn't gonna be that easy." And Tomu... was pointing at her again with a clenched jaw, as if he was silently cursing her very existence.

"So," Katsu began. _"You're_ gonna test us in a spar?"

Anko nodded, her grin turning sly. "Correct. But it won't be held today, seeing as how we had been held up." Anko coughed 'Gaki' in her hand and Tomu glared at her. He didn't seem to notice Akiko sneak up on him slowly. Anko and Katsu noticed, but said nothing. "So what time is it and where?" Katsu questioned, wanting to get the information out fast and clear. He already knew he needed to train; and his friends were already thinking the same idea.

Anko spoke out loud as smoothly as she could. "Training Field 1, 6:00 am sharp. Don't be late are punishments will be given." Anko snickered when she noticed two of the trio give one a glance. Well one gave a simple glance, the other meant total pain. "Okay then, any further questions?"

Katsu raised a hand and Anko shook her head ever so slightly. "Yeah um, what should we focus on for the spar? Just to be ready."

"Kid, you must be the thinker of the group." Anko pointed with a chuckle. Katsu shrugged while Tomu and Akiko scoffed. "But to answer your question all I can say is have speed, strategy, tools, and skill. If you don't have one of those things, well you're kinda fucked." Anko joked to herself while the teens mentally noted her words.

"Now, anymore questions?"

Tomu raised his hand.

"No? Good. Well I'm off!" Anko said quickly, blowing Tomu off purposely. The teen was gonna curse her out until said Jonin quickly added in "Oh and don't eat, you'll throw up." She finished before disappearing in a plume of smoke. The trio of teenagers just sat in silence and stared at the slowly dissipating body of smoke. The silence was broken when Tomu let out a frustrated huff. "Bitch."

It seemed like the word was a signal for a shadow to suddenly loom over him with narrowed red eyes. Before Tomu could react, he was sent rolling near the edge of the roof from a punch to the head, courtesy from an angry Akiko.

When Tomu stopped rolling, he quickly sat up and pointed his right hand at Akiko while his left began to tend to a growing bump on the back of his head. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!?" He said with small drops of tears at the edge of his eyes. The bump was throbbing as if it were a second heart. Akiko had put her hands on her hips and leaned forward with a strong scowl.

"FOR BEING LATE AGAIN YOU ASSHOLE!" Akiko bellowed furiously.

"THAT'S NO REASON TO ATTACK ME!" Tomu replied back in screams.

Before the yelling to get even louder, Katsu stood up and put a hand on Akiko's shoulder. The female clamped her jaw shut to avoid screaming anymore, but she still sent glares toward Tomu. It was no surprise that she wanted to becoming a ninja more than the other two of the group, and the anger to go with it if she didn't achieve said goal was easy to predict. Katsu sighed lazily before turning to Tomu.

"Dude, what happened? I thought we had a plan for today." Katsu asked in a normal voice and Tomu groaned in pain when he touched a soft spot on his bump. It sent painful shocks through his spine. When Tomu relaxed his muscles to relieve the pain he looked like he was gonna speak, but then a blush appeared on his cheeks. Tomu but his lip and his cheeks got redder, making the duo in front of him confused.

"Well, uh... I was trying to go to sleep like you told me, but it took longer than I expected. I tried lots of methods: drinking warm milk, sing lullabies, counting sheep, staring at the ceiling in silence, nothing worked." Tomu said before Akiko spoke up.

"Then how did you fall asleep if it was so hard?" She mocked him by changing her voice at the end. Tomu glared. "Hey YOU try falling asleep with ADHD and know that graduation is the next day!" Tomu shot back before taking in a small breath. "As I was saying," He continued, sending another glare at Akiko. "I had fallen asleep, but it wasn't how I planned."

Akiko and Katsu both noticed the blush on Tomu's face get darker. They both rose a brow in wonder and waited for their black haired friend to continue. "My plan was to tire myself out enough to fall asleep, so I had tried to do push-ups for as long as I could. But I didn't notice the creaking sound in the floor each time I moved, but by the time I heard the noise, Kaa-chan barged into my room and whacked me on the head with a rolling pin, screaming 'Go to sleep!'" Tomu finished his little tale and seemed a bit hesitant to look up at his friends.

Silence.

_*Snicker, snicker*_

"Don't you dare..." Tomu warned.

_*Snicker...*_

"I'm warning you." Tomu said, his finger pointing at his friends. He saw them trying to cover their mouths with their hands, but the pressure of building up laughter seemed to be too much. Especially if you take in the clue of reddening cheeks.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Akiko was the first to burst out laughing which caused Katsu to join not too long after. The two friends had almost fallen to the ground in their fits of laughter, covering their ribs with their arms and streams of tears flowing from their eyes. Tomu could already see through them like glass. "They're already picturing it..." Tomu growled. And it was true to say the least.

Akiko and Katsu's laughter been amplified due to the imagination of picturing Tomu getting bonked on the head by his mother. Eventually it didn't take long for Katsu and Akiko to fall to the floor and roll around. While his friends continued to laugh, Tomu sat with his arms crossed and a scowl etched over his lips. "Yeah, yeah let it all out." He mumbled in frustration. He knew it was unavoidable, but it still hurt and annoyed him.

It only took 2... 3... 4 minutes for the duo to finally start to calm down. A red faced Katsu and Akiko had deep pants of air to regain their natural breathing patterns. "O-Oh sweet Kami... that was hilarious!" Akiko breathed, holding her chest and feeling her heart beating like crazy. Katsu pushed himself off the ground with his arms and looked at Tomu, who was staring at them with indifferent eyes.

"You guys done?" Tomu deadpanned.

"Y-Yeah..." Both sweaty teens nodded.

"Good." Tomu said before he stood up on his feet. "Now why don't we, oh I don't know go train so we don't fail in our test tomorrow?"

Akiko raised a hand as she spoke with lighter pants this time. "That sound like.. a good idea."

The black haired teen of the trio had a sigh before walking passed his friends to the staircase door. He didn't even wait for his friends to get up before he opened the door and began his travel down the stairs.

Eventually his friends picked themselves up and chased after their third member. As soon as they were within reach of Tomu, Katsu reached out an arm and placed a hand on Tomu's shoulder. "So Tomu, mind telling us how you already know Anko-sensei?" Katsu questioned with a raised brow. Like Katsu, Akiko nodded her head in question at such information. Tomu sighed again. It didn't take a psychic to see this coming.

"Okay fine, on my way to the academy I accidentally slipped off a roof and crashed into her while she was eating freshly bought Dango." Akiko rose a brow and crossed her arms. "Is that it?" Tomu slowly shook his head and he quickly wiped a drop of blood from his nose before Akiko could notice. However Katsu did and he gave Tomu a thumbs up. "I uh... accidentally groped her upon landing." Tomu revealed and Akiko didn't hesitate to face-palm herself. "Dumbass..."

"And so little miss crazy wanted to chase me around the village for 20 minutes, throwing kunai at me like I'm a test dummy."

"So that's why you're late?"

"Yeah, well it was mostly the reason. I still overslept."

"Actually you didn't over sleep." Akiko said slowly, a sheepish grin growing over her face.

"What do you mean? Of course I overslept."

"Well..."

Tomu stopped walking and looked back at Akiko with a slack-jawed expression. "What did you do?"

"I kinda... snuck into your home at 12 am and changed your alarm clock." Akiko informed, chuckling nervously. "As well as your watch."

Tomu's eyes were wide and Katsu was trying to keep himself from laughing on the sideline. "..." Tomu couldn't even form words.

"Are you INSANE!? You snuck in my room when I was SLEEPING!?" He shouted. Akiko gave a quick nod and put a finger to her bottom lip. "What, did I do something wrong?" She said 'innocently', making Tomu's eyebrows twitch violently. Nobody took notice to Katsu's snickering on the sidelines.

"Y-You snuck in my house at midnight..." Tomu gritted through his teeth.

"Of course I did." Akiko grinned happily before she placed a hand on her chin and adorned a thoughtful face. "But maybe you should be more aware. Take that as a reason to be alert even when you're sleeping. You can't be a ninja if you die in your sleep, can ya?"

'She flipped it back on me!?' Tomu thought exasperated. His jaw was hanging low in disbelief while Akiko stuck her tongue out of her grinning mouth. The female had to hold in a few chuckles. 'Tomu's brow was twitching so hard it looked like it was gonna fly off his face!' She thought in amusement. Akiko noticed how the tick mark on Tomu's forehead grew twice it's size and was throbbing dangerously. 'Ooh~ He's gonna explode...!' Akiko thought anxiously. 'Maybe this'll teach him not to mess up when I bother to give him a hand!'

And just like Akiko believed, Tomu's head back and his chest puffed out as he took in air to his lungs. He was about to scream! Akiko was already prepared for the screaming, but what she wasn't prepared for was Tomu to just deflate and turn around with his head hanging low. "I just don't give a shit anymore." He mumbled as he walked down the hallway.

Akiko just stood in her spot, a blank look on her face and a large sweatdrop dropping behind her head. "Eh?" She squeaked out.

"Oh Kami, you should see the look on your face!" Akiko had finally taken notice to the laughter on the sidelines and turned her head slightly to notice Katsu leaning against the wall for support. He squeezed out words through his fits of giggles. "I swear, we should be comedians when we retire." Katsu suggested. Akiko only blinked, still a bit dumbstruck about Tomu's shut down before the self-destruct sequence. She was about to retort, but the sound of an opening door and a "Tomu-kun, why are you still here?"

Akiko and Katsu turned their heads to their third friend, only to see Tomu standing in front of a confused Lee and Tenten. They had noticed Neji walking out of the door a second later, but didn't bother calling out to him as he walked away to the Hyuuga compound.

As Akiko and Katsu ran over to join Tomu, they heard said teen say "Tenten? Lee? I thought you guys already left after meeting your sensei."

Tenten had a small scowl of disgust at the mention of the word 'sensei'. "Yeah, I thought that too, but apparently our sensei wanted to hold us up with a speech."

"A speech about what?" Katsu questioned.

Tenten shuddered. "Don't ask." Distant in her mind she could still faintly hear the continuous shouts of 'the springtime of youth!'

Katsu smirked. "But I just did."

While Tenten shot Katsu a glare, Lee spoke up to Tomu. Tomu almost flinched when he saw the shining sparkles in Lee's eyes as the over-excited teen began to shout, "Tomu-kun, our sensei is amazing! He is truly the greatest man you could ever wish to meet!"

Tomu rose a brow at Lee. Unlike Tomu, Akiko and Katsu noticed Tenten making a slashing motion across her neck and shaking her head furiously. "Hm, at least you have a sensei you like Lee." Tomu grumbled in annoyance at the mention of a certain purple haired psycho. "So Lee, who is your sensei anyway?"

Tenten let out a long sigh of frustration as Lee's hands shot up into the air. "He is Konoha's Handsome Green Beast! He is Might Gai!" He bellowed as if shouting the man's name to the heavens expresses his 'godliness'. Tenten had already planted her face into her hand's palm.

Tomu had a small smile on his face. "Might Gai, hm? I'll have to meet him some day."

"Please don't." Tenten quickly retorted.

"Why's that? Lee says he's a great man." Tomu replied.

Tenten rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, it's not like he isn't a person who doesn't care about us, but it's just... he's a bit eccentric." She finished.

"Eccentric how?" Akiko asked.

"Well after you round-house kicked Katsu out of the room-"

"What!?" Katsu rounded on Akiko. "You said I passed out after getting slammed into the desk and you carried me on your back!"

Akiko only placed her hand on Katsu's face and pushed him away. She looked at a sweatdropping Tenten with a kind smile. "Please carry on."

"Ok... well after all that, you left before my sensei could walk in the room." It looked like Tenten was getting a bit uncomfortable talking about Gai. "He had a... he was kinda... his eyebrows... just forget it." Tenten deadpanned. "Let's just stay at eccentric."

"Aw, but I wanna meet him." Tomu whined. Tenten's eyes got hard. "We're staying at eccentric." Tomu flinched and nodded his head quickly.

Lee gave Tomu a thumb's up and grinned, showing his pearly white teeth. "Don't worry Tomu-kun, I'm sure you'll meet him soon!" After he said that, a glistening shine bounced off his teeth from a non-existent light. Tenten looked at him like she'd seen a ghost. Akiko, with her good hearing, heard Tenten mutter under her breath "Oh dear Kami, he's converting..."

"So Tenten," Katsu began with a smirk. "How was it with Mr. Faggot?"

It was a bit funny to a soon-to-be Team 1 to see Tenten already figure out who Katsu was talking about. "Neji... while he'll be a good teammate in the future, I just don't think we'll be a perfect team."

"How come?" Tomu asked.

"It's because he think's he's the best because he's Rookie of the Year. That or his destiny speeches." Tenten explained. "And it didn't help his destiny beliefs when Lee said his dream is to become a great ninja without the need for Ninjutsu or Genjutsu." The Hyuuga in the group looked at Lee, who's smile faltered just a bit.

Katsu crossed his arms and gained an annoyed frown. "Let me guess, my cousin said it was destiny that Lee would forever be a failure due to his disability of chakra control?"

Lee and Tenten nodded somberly. "Yeah."

Katsu shook his head in disappointment. "Asshole."

With the hallways filling with silence, Tomu was thinking of a way to keep the conversation going. Then an idea popped into his head. Tomu quickly slammed his fist into a palm in the 'I got it' manner. But before he could pronounce a word, his mouth clamped shut and his eyes started watering. Lee was the first to notice Tomu's predicament and ask "What is the matter Tomu-kun?"

"It hurts..." He squeaked out. Tenten had joined Lee as she raised a questioning brow before she saw that Tomu's fist had made contact with... an almost dry, bloody hand with glass shards? "What... happened to your hand?" Tenten asked slowly.

"Physics." Was Tomu's curt reply, earning a confused stare.

Lee pointed at the red hand. "Shouldn't you go to the hospital, Tomu-kun?" Lee suggested.

"Nah, it's good. Kaa-chan will fix it right up when I get home." It seemed like Tenten and Lee were gonna say more about the condition of his injured hand, but he cut them off with "Why don't we all train later?"

Caught off guard, Tenten replied with "What?"

Tomu smiled. "You know, training? The method to get better at the things you're not and prepare yourself?"

Tenten snorted. "I know what training is, Baka. I was just a little confused to why you're asking us to train all of a sudden."

"I just wanna train because we have a sparring test against our sensei. We'd like to get better to make our chances of passing greater." Tenten saw Akiko and Katsu nod behind him. "Yeah it's true. We're gonna train as well. You in?" Akiko questioned and Tenten shrugged. "It doesn't matter anyway because knowing this guy," Tenten pointed to Lee, who was bouncing at the simple thought of training. "Will drag me into his training regimens to prepare for OUR spar with Gai-sensei. So what time?"

Tomu looked at his watch and saw that it was 2:39 pm. "... How about 3? It'll give us some time to rest before we start punching the shit out of each other." Tomu said and the duo in front of him nodded.


	4. The First Test!

**Wassup everybody! I hope I didn't keep you all waiting for too long! But here I am with a new chapter of Team Crazy!**

**Cheshire-Cat-Chan: You kinda did keep them waiting for a while...**

**Spider-mantheraper: Yeah...**

**King of Swag: Oh be quiet. Now Disclaimer?**

**King of Swag: Not one of us own Naruto in any sort of way. Except our OC of course.**

**Now READ!**

* * *

**Chapter 4: The First Test!**

_Chirp, chirp... chirp...!_

"Ugh! It's way to early for this!" Tomu whined aloud, his arms crossed over his chest as he sat down on the grass.

"You think I don't know that?" Akiko growled as she leaned against one of the wooden poles. "But if we wanna be ninja, we need to deal with it." She snapped back and Tomu huffed. Akiko wanted to punch Tomu's lights in the second she heard "Just because we have to, doesn't mean I'll like it." under his breath.

"Look, just shut up so I can think of some strategies for our test." Akiko ordered, closing her eyes and drawing up the blueprints of their attacks. Because Akiko had been the only female of the trio, she took it upon herself to take the role to think of the battle plans and the responsible adult. Sure Tomu and Katsu could make up plans, but their plans usually involve diving head first into the fights. 'That and their personalities of being perverted dumbasses instead of being TRUE Konoha ninja.' Akiko thought.

As Akiko went deep in her thoughts, Tomu opened an eye and smirked confidently. "I don't understand why you stress yourself over little things like this Aki-chan. This test will fly by if we just use teamwork." Tomu let out a smug snort and put a hand on his flexing left arm. "I mean with all three of us working together, we never lose!"

"Tomu, dodgeball isn't the same as sparring with a trained Jonin." Akiko growled as she pulled her arms apart. "Sure if it's a team exercise, we'll do a good amount and improvise." She lifted a finger and waved it slowly. "But if it's a solo spar, I need to think so we don't fail. I don't even know her abilities so I need to think of every scenario."

"Aki-chan, listen to me." Tomu commanded as he stood up to her height, or higher by 2 inches. "If I know Miss Crazy from our WONDERFUL 30 minutes together, she's the type to chase you down and attack you with kunai endlessly. Even though I don't know her other abilities, that's a good description to go on." Akiko looked like she gonna speak, but Tomu held up a finger and continued. "And her personality seems to be one who would rather attack all of us at once cause fighting only each of us at one time is boring."

"But even so, I can't just walk into this with no plan. The life of the ninja isn't one to take lightly and I'll be damned if I let my guard down and die." Akiko said with a clenched fist in the air, a determined looked burning in her eyes. Tomu blinked slowly with a bored expression. "Yeeah, well our teamwork is what I'll rely on."

"Fine, be an idiot." Akiko insulted.

"I'm not an idiot, that's Katsu." Tomu blinked in confusion before he started looking around the training ground. "And speaking of Katsu," All Tomu saw was the nicely trimmed plain, trees, and the usual small thin streams of water from the large lake a few miles off. "Where is the dumbass anyway?"

Akiko was gonna comment and say she didn't know either, but a voice rudely cut her off. "You know it's not nice to say mean things about people behind their backs." Tomu blinked in surprise and looked up in the closest tree, only to see a grinning Katsu resting on a thick branch.

"Were you there the entire time?" Akiko accused slowly, a bit cautious of being watched without her knowing. Katsu blinked slowly at her with a blank look before shrugging. "I actually have no clue. I've been zoning in and out in this tree for who knows how long." He said before giving a loud yawn and scratching his waist. "Damn it's early."

Akiko saw Tomu raise a hand to Katsu and look at her with an 'I told ya so' type of expression and a "See, even he agrees!" to match it. Akiko had a low growl vibrate throughout her throat, but said nothing. She already knew arguing instead of planning for their test wasn't a good idea and she wasn't gonna follow said choice. All she did was lean back against one of the poles and cross her arms again.

Katsu chuckled at Akiko's grumpy state from his spot in the tree branch. He wanted to tease her so much like they always did to each other each morning, but he could see the reason behind her silent brainstorming. Plus, it was that and he didn't want to get caught in a fight with his friend before his test with Anko.

So instead of playing the douche and distracting their team thinker, he decided to at least talk to Tomu. "Dude, did you eat this morning?" He asked flatly.

Akiko opened an eye to look at their Hyuuga teammate. "Didn't Anko-sensei tell us not to eat?"

"Yeah, did you really think I'd listen to her? Especially with breakfast?" Tomu pointed out nonchalantly, as if it were common knowledge.

Katsu rolled his body a bit where an arm had lazily hung by his side. Sucking his teeth in amusement, Katsu gave her a mocking grin. "Yeah Akiko. Are you seriously the only one who didn't eat?"

The kunoichi wanted to snap back at her teammate, but a growl from her stomach caused a blush to form over her cheeks. Tomu had to hold in his snickers and Katsu gained a sly smirk. She immediately snapped her mouth shut and tried to play it off, but failed miserably due to the laughing duo known as her friends.

"O-Oh, wow you already made your first mistake today!" Tomu forced out through his laughs. "And you call US the idiots." Katsu added, giving more fuel to Tomu's laughing and his 'tease Akiko in the morning' count.

Said kunoichi narrowed her eyes as her hand dangerously inched closer to her kunai pouch. 'You know what, screw attack strategies!' She thought angrily, her desire to pound the boys into submission was growing.

Katsu had saw her arm movements and was about to say something until his eyes suddenly narrowed and his smirk vanished in half a second. The sound of whistling reached his, as well as Akiko and Tomu's ears. With only a second to react, Katsu rolled off the branch and saw shuriken soar over the branch.

Katsu's left leg hooked onto the branch where he hung upside down with his Byakugan activating. His eyes widened. "Tomu, Akiko, behind you!" Katsu warned and like before, the sounds of whistling was heard again. But this time they sounded thinner and closer.

Tomu's reflex had been quicker than Akiko as he rushed to her side and picked her up bridal style. Akiko's eyes widened as Tomu landed with a foot on top of one of the poles and allowed the speeding shimmers to pass by; towards Katsu to be specific.

The red clad Hyuuga only retaliated with a kunai and deflected all of the attacks within 3 seconds. After the sounds of metal hitting metal had ceased, Tomu and Akiko had spotted several kunai planted in the ground after being blocked by Katsu's own ninja tool.

After allowing Akiko to stand on her own two feet, Tomu had an annoyed scowl as he inspected the lengthy kunai that littered the grass. "That crazy son of a-" Tomu stopped himself as he suddenly dodged a kunai that would've pierced the left side of his brain if not reacted fast enough. The kunai had pieced the left of the three wooden poles with a soft thunk.

_Clap, clap, clap!_

Tomu and Akiko had turned their heads towards Katsu. They had heard the clapping originate from him, but when they saw him shake his head and shrug they soon thought otherwise. Before any of the them could voice their confusion, a certain mesh clad Jonin walked from behind the tree Katsu was hanging from.

"Bravo, bravo!" Anko's positive applaud fell on deaf ears as Tomu jumped down from one of the wooden poles with the kunai pointed at her. "The hell's the matter with you!? You could have killed us!" He screamed angrily, picking up and throwing Anko's kunai back at her.

Anko's grin didn't leave her face for a second as her kunai was effortlessly caught through the handle hole by her finger. She whistled innocently and twirled the ninja tool, gaining a tick mark on Tomu's forehead. "Well!?"

Anko stopped whistling. "Well what?"

"You know what!" Tomu bellowed and pointed at the elite kunoichi in front of him. "Why did you attack us like that!?"

The kunai spinning around her pointer finger had stopped and Anko began to walk calmly to the rookies. Katsu had dropped from the branch and walked a good distance away from her to group with his friends, all the while keeping an eye on the purple haired woman. That didn't mean Tomu wasn't doing the same thing. The black haired teenager had crossed arms and angrily bore his eyes onto the moving form of an unpredictable and incredibly dangerous Mitarashi Anko.

The purple haired woman had finished walking and had stopped in front of the fresh rookies. "Did you really think I'd test you without giving you a bit of a taste of the real world's ambush attacks?" Anko asked with a clearly amused smirk plastered over her face.

"No, not in the slightest." Tomu muttered flatly. It wasn't a lie due to his personal experience of playing Cat and Mouse with the sadistic female. Tomu had already planned out certain actions that Anko may or may not pull and because of that, he was on his full guard. He didn't trust Anko. Not. One. Bit.

"Why thank you, Gaki." Tomu's brow gave a tiny, but still noticeable twitch of aggravation. Anko looked towards him and leaned forward, enough to give the entire trio a perfect glimpse of her assets. "I'm glad to know you think of me in your spare time." Anko softly purred which quickly caused heat to rise in Tomu's cheeks. Tomu didn't say anything else, lest he risked getting another jab at him. He just decided on giving the woman a straightforward glare.

Anko just waved it off and stood up straight with a devious grin. "Well kiddies," Anko started and shot her arms outwards in a gesture to empathize her words. "Today's the day you get to show your stuff!" She announced. Her words seemed to pull at a string of seriousness and attention from the trio as their eyes focused even more. Anko saw Tomu's hand twitch and her grin turned sly. 'I'm guessing they're just itching to start, aren't they? Can't say I blame them. They are teens after all.' She mused to herself through her thoughts.

"Anko-sensei," Akiko began, her voice sounding a bit flat and calm. "What test are we gonna do exactly?"

"Glad you asked girly!" Anko exclaimed before pulling two silver bells out of her trench coat pocket.

The trio looked at the silver bells as if they were robots locking onto their target. Anko jiggled the bells lightly in front of the group. "These bells are your test." Anko clarified and before Akiko could open her mouth, she continued to explain. "The point of this test is to see if you can take these bells away from me. You are to attack me with everything you have, with the intent to kill. If you don't, you won't get these two bells and pass." That strong detail seemed to make all three of the teens narrow their eyes in shock and confusion.

"But that's not fair. What about the third?"

Anko turned to the person who asked the question. "Why Gaki, there is no third bell." Anko explained and Tomu sucked his teeth.

"Then how are all of us gonna pass?"

"You don't." Anko said bluntly, catching Tomu off guard. "Whoever doesn't get the third bell will be sent back to the academy."

"WHAT!?" Tomu exclaimed in disbelief, his eyes narrowing at the purple haired Jonin. "That's total bullshit!"

"Hey, that's the test now deal with it." Anko shot back, starting to get annoyed with the Shokku child. Anko placed a hand on her waist and leaned forward with a finger pointing at Tomu. "If you don't like it, I could fail all of you right now."

Tomu wanted to retort, but he knew the risk of talking back to the person who holds their career in her hands. The teen just sucked his teeth and crossed his arms, tapping his foot impatiently. "..." He was silent and that was the answer Anko was looking for. The purple haired Jonin smirked in victory before standing up straight and raising the bells to her face.

"Now that everything's covered, you all ready Gakis?" Anko said smoothly, but even in her tone Tomu could catch the excitement bubbling up. She wanted to fight them too, just like he did. He looked to the sides, Katsu was clenching his fists and relaxing them to get himself ready for any sudden attacks. Akiko was narrowing her eyes and calculating any situation Anko could enact through the, tidbit amount of information on her skills she got from Tomu. Akiko mind was working at a fast pace, trying to focus on strategies, but that didn't hinder focus on reality.

When Anko had raised her other hand into the air, the trio had gotten into a ready stance, their feet digging into the dirt in preparation to move on a second's notice.

"Ready..." Akiko's mind was racing and her heart was picking up.

"...Set..." Katsu's fists balled and opened while his legs tensed.

"..." Anko's 2 second pause felt like an hour to Tomu. "GO!" As if a switch was flipped on, Tomu's face steeled up and he immediately launched himself into the air, using the environmental surroundings to cloak his form as he dashed through the tree tops. Akiko wasn't far from the same thing as she took off into the trees as well.

Anko had watched both teens go off to hide. She had a smirk. "Good to know the kiddies know how to hide-" Anko had closed her mouth the second she leaned back just as an open hand reached it's limit of length and reeled itself back. Anko managed to get a second long look to see Katsu with a serious expression on his face before his other hand launched forward towards the center of her chest.

Smoothly, Anko slapped Katsu's wrist to the side breaking his offence for only a second until his right hand lashed forward for another open palm strike. The young Hyuuga continued his barrage of strikes and Anko had looked at him with an amused grin. She tried to speak while blocking or dodging each palm strike. "Shouldn't you... be trying... to hide like... Gaki 1 and... 2...?" Anko questioned before sidestepping to the left, avoiding a close strike to the chin.

Katsu took in a light breath while Anko pulled out three kunai. "I know I should be hiding, but let's just say you interest me." He said with a smirk.

Anko blinked with her grin getting wider. "Oh? Aren't I a bit old for you?" She teased.

"I don't see any wrinkles." Katsu retorted, adding to their little game. Anko gave a short laugh. "Are you serious?"

"No, but I was honest about you interesting me." Katsu admitted, sleeping into a certain clan's battle stance. "I'm just taking the role of evaluating your abilities for my friends. That way, they'll be more careful and knowing when we all take you on."

"So you're actually working together to face me?"

"Yup."

"Very nice, Gaki... but let's see if you and your little friends can actually win." Anko dared before throwing all three of her kunai at the red-clad rookie. Katsu quickly pulled his own kunai and deflected each of them before lunging forward.

* * *

"Should have known Katsu would've stayed to fight her first." Tomu muttered, looking through the leaves of a thick bush. He lays on his stomach, his eyes narrowed to see past the dark green leaves and saw Katsu get into a close combat match with their sensei. He watched Katsu throw speedy punches and Anko block them with her hands or dodge and took notice of her flexibility. "But I guess it was a good thing he did... now I know how she moves." Tomu mumbled under his breath.

Tomu had began to reach for one of the swords strapped to his back, his eyes locked onto the female like a Lion ready to pounce.

_Shimmer, shimmer... shimmer!_

Tomu blinked when he saw something flash into his eye from the far left of his vision. His black eyes darted to the source and saw a flashing light appearing and disappearing in one of the training ground trees. Tomu reached into his pouch and pulled out a small one-lens binocular. With his vision zooming to the other side of the field, he finally spotted who was flashing him through the leafs and branches of a tree.

It was Akiko.

Tomu reached back into his pouch again and pulled out a small, but thick mirror. He positioned the mirror at the right spot of the sun light and tilted the mirror slightly, sending a flash back to his friend. It only took that one flash to alert Akiko that he had indeed saw her message. She flashed twice, confirming that she got his signal. Tomu had rapidly gave her a small series of flashes, some of them with 2 second pauses for intervals.

He looked through his binoculars and saw Akiko make more signals, but this time using her hands. With the gestures Akiko was giving her teammate, Tomu carefully examined each movement and soon when Akiko was done, Tomu flashed his mirror twice. He saw Akiko give him a thumbs up before she disappeared in the green of the trees.

Tomu put his mirror and binoculars back into his kunai pouch and looked back down to where Anko and Katsu had continued fighting. Tomu spotted Katsu get sent flying back from a kick to the chest, but knowing his friend Tomu knew he wouldn't be done in so easily. And just like he thought, Katsu stopped skidding across the grass and jumped to his feet, already charging head first back into the battle.

Katsu had made a few hand-signs and after using a small amount of concentrated chakra... "Byakugan!" He shouted before leaping at his teacher. The most noticeable trait of the Hyuuga when activating their prized Kekkei Genkai, were the veins around his eyes that had bulged through the skin and his white eyes began to have more detail towards the center pupil.

Anko had raised her hands to slap away a barrage of Jyuuken strikes, but with Katsu's Byakugan now activated his view point and reaction speed had grew gradually enough to counter her defense. As Katsu continued trying to keep Anko on her toes, he noticed a small glimmer of light in the tree to his left, just out of Anko's vision. He gave a curt nod before pulling out a small wrapped ball from his pouch. Without giving Anko to second to see what the ball was, Katsu through it to the floor and a huge cloud of smoke quickly enveloped the purple haired Jonin.

"Wha-" Anko began before the smoke got into her lungs and she started coughing, covering her mouth and keeping a single eye open. She didn't stay still while she coughed, spinning around to check her surroundings to make sure nobody was gonna get the drop on her. But right when the cost looked clear and she was just about to leap out of the smoke cloud, she heard the sound of grass crunching behind her.

Instantly using her reflexes to whip out a kunai, Anko turned around and held it up just as a sword came crashing down towards her head. The Jonin blinked both eyes as she saw Tomu staring at her with an indifferent pair of eyes, his focus only on her as he pressed his sword against her kunai. Anko's mouth curved into a grin. "Oh, so the Gaki is finally putting up a fight?" She teased, but Tomu didn't do anything besides reach for his back.

Anko pulled herself away from Tomu's first sword just in time to avoid getting a sliced with the second one. Anko used this chance to back-flip out of the cloud while Tomu bolted towards her, both swords ready at his sides. As Anko skidded against the grass, Tomu didn't waste any time when Anko accidently backed up into a tree. He spun his swords in his hands and jumped at her, bringing both swords together.

Anko had only let out a pained gasp when she looked down. On her chest was an X shaped slash which was already pouring out blood. Tomu watched Anko put a hand on her chest in shock, as if she never thought he'd managed to catch her off guard. "G-Gaki..." Anko whispered and Tomu narrowed his eyes slightly. Anko's shocked expression turned smug. "Gotcha."

Tomu didn't have much of a facial reaction as the Anko in front of him went up in smoke and turned into a log with an X shaped gash over it. He heard the sound of whistling and spun on his heels, bringing his swords up. In swift motions, Tomu deflected a small group of shuriken and kunai. Tomu heard the sound of clapping and looked towards the almost dissipated cloud of smoke. On the other side, leaning against a tree with her arms crossed over her chest was Anko.

"I never actually expected that I'd have to use the Substitution technique on you." Anko pouted. "And here I thought you were just a snot-nosed Gaki with no skills."

Tomu snorted before putting his swords back in their sheathes. He crossed his arms as well. "That's too bad, cause I thought you'd have more to offer as well." He countered with a small chuckle of his own. Anko only waved at him with a lazy hand. "Pfft, why don't you stop acting cocky and fight for real then?"

Tomu kneeled down into a small stance. "I was just about to say that too." Tomu raised a hand and with a gesture of two fingers pointing to Anko, two figures jumped out of the trees on each side. Anko only looked to each side with only half a second. On her left was Katsu with his hands ready for attack and on her right was Akiko, both hands with kunai. As both of the teens flew down at her, Anko ducked just in time for Akiko to fly just over her head.

The teenage girl did a roll and tossed her kunai at Anko. Said teacher used her own kunai to deflect them, but it seemed Katsu had seen this coming and took only a second to charge his left hand with chakra just as he touched the ground. "Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm!" He called, actually catching Anko off guard and hitting her torso with a condense force of air. The Jonin coughed and tried to keep her feet on the ground.

But, Tomu ran behind her just in time to kneel down and give her legs a low kick. After Tomu managed to knock her off balance, Akiko leaped into the air and did a front flip into the air to gain momentum. Bringing down her right leg with twice the amount of force, Akiko dug her foot into Anko's stomach.

In another puff of smoke, a smashed log took Anko's place again. Akiko sucked her teeth and Tomu growled in annoyance before they both turned to their third teammate. Katsu nodded and without taking long to search for her, Katsu pointed deeper in the training ground where the trees got thicker. "She's taking off into the forest!"

"C'mon, we don't have a lot of time left!" Akiko barked before jumping into a tree, making a beeline for their sensei. Tomu and Katsu didn't miss a beat and took off as well, but Tomu decided to run on the ground while Katsu took to the tree tops with Akiko.

"I see her!" Tomu called out as he sprinted faster to catch up with his purple haired mentor. Anko continued to leap from branch to branch without losing any of her speed. She looked back to see the trio following her like a pack of Bloodhounds. She smirked, but didn't say anything as she sped up. Akiko had already began tossing a large barrage of kunai and shuriken at Anko slow her down, but even with her well aiming, Anko had dodged each of her tools with ease. And with each dodge she never faltered.

"Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm!" Katsu sent another air force from his palms, aiming directly for Anko's back with the help of his Byakugan. As the wave of wind flew at her, Anko jumped higher to another branch and latched onto it with her hands, pulling her up and letting Katsu's attack pass by her harmlessly. After using her momentum to pull herself up, Anko turned around and bounced off her branch towards Akiko and Katsu.

Akiko saw Anko pull out another lengthened kunai and her mouth was turned into a sadist grin. Just as Anko was only a few meters away from Akiko, she thrust her kunai forward which was dangerously aimed towards Akiko's forehead.

Seeing his teammate in trouble, Katsu launched his arm forward to grip the back of Akiko's shirt. And with a strong tug, Akiko was pulled out of Anko's attack. But instead of letting Anko fly back and get time to retaliate, Katsu let go of Akiko and quickly latched back onto her wrist. While inwardly thanking Katsu for getting herself out of danger, Akiko already understood what he was trying to do and used the given momentum to bring her leg into a stronger kick.

Finally feeling her leg connect with the side of Anko's rib cage, Akiko pushed even harder to launch Anko downwards their final teammate, who began to reach into his kunai pouch. Tomu had a small grin as he pulled out two shuriken and launched them at his teacher. Anko had opened an eye at the last second and saw the shuriken fly passed her. Tomu had balled up both of his hands and just as he saw his shuriken fly by his target, he pulled his hands back.

A small shimmer of light glistened in the air and the shuriken had quickly changed flight patterns. Before Anko could reacted, the shuriken had flown back towards her and without any warning, she felt something thin wrap around her arms and legs. 'Metal Wire!?' Anko thought in panic as the shuriken stopped circling around her and piercing her arms, giving her less time to react when she saw two shadows appear on top of her.

She felt a pair of feet quickly touched her back before disappearing leaving her puzzled, expecting an impact to the spin-she spoke too soon as she heard "Vacuum Palm!" and felt a strong blow from behind send her flying to the ground.

Akiko had landed next to Tomu with a grin and Katsu, who remained standing on a tree branch, gave them both a raised brow. "Did we win?" He asked.

Akiko, with a small huff and a raise of her hand, showed two bells that hung from a single connected string. "Do you really doubt my skills?" She laughed and Tomu had a breath of relief. He had wondered what she grabbed when she stepped on Anko's back. "Well that's good," Tomu began before pointing to Anko, who remained laying on her face. "but we still gotta make sure-" He stopped when a soft and distant sound was heard.

_Ring, ring, ring!_

"That you got the real bells?" Anko's voice sounded. Before anybody could react, Katsu had been tied up by a long purple snake and the bells in Akiko's hand turned into mud, along with the 'Anko' that was tied up on the ground. 'It was a Mud Clone!?' Tomu thought in stunned silence.

Tomu wanted to curse out in disbelief only to realize that Anko was the one who took the fake bells. Since Akiko was the most confident of winning, he expected something from Akiko, but after looking closer at his fellow teammate, he noticed her eyes were dull. Tomu sucked his teeth. "Shit, she's in a Genjutsu-" Tomu had found a sharp kunai held at his neck and his eyes looked as far to the side as they could. He could see Anko looking down at him with her tongue sticking out.

"Sorry Gakis, but I win this fight." Anko declared.

"Fuck!" Katsu cursed, still struggling with the snake that managed to bind him. While Akiko was still left in a Genjutsu, Tomu took it upon himself to let out a sigh of frustration. "I knew it was too easy. You didn't even fight back most of the time." Tomu muttered, his eyes closed. The kunai had left his neck and Anko snorted. "What, you wanted me to kick your ass? Kinda weird Gaki." She joked and Tomu shook his head.

"Just free my friends all ready." Tomu growled. Anko raised her hands in a defensive gesture. "Ok, ok, sheesh." Anko laughed before putting snapping her fingers. The large purple snake that bound Katsu had went up in smoke and Akiko's head perked up, looking around frantically. "Who-wha-where!?" Akiko sputtered before her eyes landed on Tomu and Anko. "Wait, did we win?" She asked and with a small shake of Tomu's head, Akiko's mouth etched into a scowl.

"Dammit! How could I get caught in a Genjutsu like that!?" Akiko screamed, angry at the fact that she fell for such a trap and lost the test. Her hands were balled into fists and were shaking dangerously.

"Now hold on before you start stabbing people." Anko warned teasingly, gaining a heated glare in return. "I still have to go over the test."

Katsu dropped down to join the group and by his hard frown, he was just as pissed as the other two. "What's the point? We lost." Anko nodded at the Hyuuga and she smirked. "Yeah I know you all lost. But even though you did, I was still evaluating your skills as the test went on." Anko informed, making Tomu raise a questioning brow. "Is that why you didn't fight back? To see what we can do?"

"That..." Anko grinned sheepishly and scratched her cheek. "and the fact that I don't know how to hold back."

That little comment didn't seem to get any laughs from the kids, but only make them a bit angrier. Anko let out a slightly nervous chuckle as she felt the glares get more intense. Anko coughed into her hand. "Well, um Katsu." The Hyuuga blinked as a signal of attention. "I can tell you're the team's confidence and muscle, charging head-first into battle to size up your opponent for both yourself and your teammates. You're reflexes are quick, precise and your skills can either paralyze an enemy or provide good defense if your team is ever in trouble." Katsu blinked in surprise at what Anko explained. It was true that he could do these thing for his friends, but to be told down in strong details caught him off guard.

Anko then turned to Akiko, who actually looked a bit eager to hear what evaluation Anko had given her. "Akiko, while I didn't see much of your abilities, I'm gonna use the small time before the test to help define your role. Before the test, I watched you try to think of strategies to prepare and think of back up plans in case I created any scenarios that could've changed your original plans." Akiko's mouth twitched, almost turning into a smile. But due to her still being angry at losing in a fight pushed such action away.

Anko continued what she had to say. "But during the test, I can tell that as the female of the group you know your role as being the 'helper', like the team medic. You chose to stay out of battle unless the situation calls for it. And I've notice that when you attack, you're a bit more nimble and quicker, good for defensive and offensive reflexes."

After telling Akiko what Anko learned and seeing the girl nod back, Anko finally turned to Tomu. The black haired teen had a raised brow and crossed arms, waiting for Anko to start talking. "And you Gaki," A small tick mark appeared on his forehead. "I'm not gonna lie, you have some decent skills with swords. Even though you didn't get to try most of them on me." She grinned and leaned forward, earning a slight growl.

"Like Katsu and Akiko, you're moves are quick as well. You don't let your emotions get the best of you and you stay focused on your surroundings. You also size up your opponents, but you don't do it brashly." Anko nodded, putting a hand on her chin in a thinking manner. "I'm pretty sure that if you were given the right training, you could really become a dangerous person."

Tomu slowly blinked at the woman with a blank look. Sure, he already figured she'd say something like that, but he and his friends had already decided that he was best candidate for the leader role. "Okay, while I thank you for seeing potential in us, what's the point? We lost the fight and didn't get the bells. We failed the test." Tomu reminded.

"Well..." Anko said slowly, her eyes rolling in an innocent manner. Tomu narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"You really didn't have to win to pass the test." Anko said. "The test was really a test of teamwork. I wanted to see if you three could work together well enough to get the bells. And even though you didn't get the real bells, the strategy you used to obtain the fake ones was excellent to say the least." Anko noticed the all three teenagers staring at her with such intensity, she thought they were trying to melt her under their gazes. "Sooo..."

"Soooo...!?" Tomu, Akiko, and Katsu said at once.

Anko kept the silence for a few seconds. She could've sworn she could feel the beating of their hearts through the ground.

And finally after getting the suspense risen up Anko open her mouth, making each of the teenagers' eyes bulge out of their heads. "... you failed."

Silence... total, dead, silence.

Tomu's brow twitched violently and his eyes turned white with anger. "WHAT!?"

* * *

**And we leave off there guys! Hope you enjoyed it! Until the next update!**

**King of Swag: I feel a bit insecure about the action in the test, but I promise I'll either get over it or get better.**

**Cheshire-Cat-Chan: Overall the story is getting good.**

**Spider-mantheraper: Yup, I can't wait for the rest to update soon.**

**REVIEW!**


	5. Day of (Un)Wanted Surprises

**King of Swag: Wassup everybody! Hope I didn't have you guys waiting too long!**

**Cheshire-Cat-Chan: You did...**

**Spider-mantherapist: She's right bro. What kept you?**

**King of Swag: Freakin' writer's block and Internet connection! Plus I'm working on other stories too so what'd ya expect!?**

**Spider-mantherapist: Nothing much actually.**

**Cheshire-Cat-Chan: Can we just get back onto the story please!? I'm dying to know what the hell's gonna happen, like _some readers_ we know!**

**King of Swag: Yeah, yeah I get it. Anyway why don't we remind reader's what happened last time in case they forgot.**

**Cheshire-Cat-Chan: The totally and utterly sexy Akiko and her teammates had prepared and gathered for Anko's test.**

**Spider-mantherapist: Team 1 finally got to show off their skills especially my OC Katsu, unlike Tomu and Akiko.**

**King of Swag: The team finished the test and Anko gave them their grade, aka failure.**

**Cheshire-Cat-Chan: Yeah and the hell do you mean Spider!? My OC did the same amount of work as yours.**

**Spider-mantherapist: Yes throwing kunai and shuriken and giving tiny kicks here and there.**

**King of Swag: Um, guys...?**

**Cheshire-Cat-Chan: Shut up! Akiko can kick Katsu's ass if she wanted too!**

**Spider-mantherapist: Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that.**

**King of Swag: Hey, anybody wanna listen to me for a second!?**

**Cheshire-Cat-Chan: Grrr! She can take you anytime...!"  
**

**King of Swag: *Sweatdrops* Ok, well since they aren't listening to me... go on with the fic guys. Sorry for the long wait!**

**Disclaimer: We DO NOT own Naruto except our OC!**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Day of (Un)Wanted Surprises**

"You failed." Anko announced with a straight face, arms crossed as she looked down at the teenage trio. The only thing that had entered her ears were the sounds of rustling leaves as the winds blew throughout the forest. As the group stood in silence, Anko stared at the group. Mainly the trio's black haired swordsman, who's shoulder were shaking and his hair shadowed over his eyes. Mentally, Anko started to countdown as she began taking steps back. '3... 2... 1...'

"WHAAAT!?" Tomu exploded, making Anko struggle to keep a straight face and breaking her facade. She failed when a grin stretched over her mouth, but she stopped a laugh from escaping by biting her lower lip.

"What do you mean... _we failed_?" Tomu struggled to hiss through his tightly clenched jaws.

It seemed that his anger reached an all new high as his teeth started to grind against each other, his breathing only able to go through the thin gaps of his teeth; Anko took notice of the other two teens that stood at his sides. Small beads of sweat began sliding down Anko's face when she realized how pissed all three teenagers had looked. Akiko had her arms crossed, eyes narrowed like piercing knives and a strong scowl while the veins around Katsu's eyes looked like they were starting to activate into the Byakugan.

Clearly, none of them were happy with their test results and wanted answers.

The Jonin could practically feel the heat of each of their glares and realized a danger sign when Tomu slowly reached for one of his swords. That was when Anko realized; say something they don't want to hear and they'll attack without hesitation. This time with _real_ intent to kill.

Anko's eyes quickly darted from one teenager to another and gave a nervous chuckle. "U-Uh, now before anyone does anything hasty I just want to say," Anko's grin turned into a solid smirk. "I was joking. You guys actually passed your test." Anko gave the teens a thumbs up and a cheeky smile. "So congratulations! You're now Team 1!"

_Silence._

"Eh?" Anko blinked when the kids didn't cheer like she expected to hear. Tomu's glare had lessened, but was still hard. "Why aren't you happy? You passed!"

"You just told us we failed," Tomu began.

"Then told us you were joking," Akiko continued.

"And then told us we passed." Katsu finished, his tone flat. "I don't think we'd just accept it just like that."

Anko crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. 'Geez, can't these kids take a joke?' Anko shook her head before dropping her hands and placing them on her hips. "Well, you shouldn't have gotten so worked up about it. Did you honestly think that I'd fail each of you after evaluating your skills as accurately as I could? Even after I said such positive things?" Anko asked, pointing out the clues that could have exploited her joke from the very beginning.

Akiko turned her head towards Tomu who in turn looked at Katsu who looked right back. After the teens had exchanged glances, they each looked at the purple haired Jonin. "Yup." They said and nodded simultaneously, gaining a large sweatdrop from Anko.

"W-Well, just be happy that you passed." Anko huffed to herself, getting annoyed that her joke didn't get its intended reactions. After a few seconds of silence between the four, Akiko raised a hand. "What is it Gaki?"

"It's been bothering me, but _how_ exactly did we pass the test? We didn't get the bells in time." Akiko asked. The girl didn't need to look to her right to know that Tomu and Katsu were giving her glares that said 'Why the fuck would you jinx us!?'.

"The point of the test wasn't the bells." Anko sighed, having already expected someone to ask that particular question. "The hidden meaning of the test was to test your teamwork. It's every Jonin's duty to make sure fresh academy students are able to work together in order to make a decent team." Anko explained plainly, making Tomu raise a brow.

"We have no trouble working together." He pointed out. "Remember the smoke bomb? And the tag team? And how we tied you up?"

Anko lazily nodded to each memory and rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, and yes. I was _there_ Gaki. I knew the second you all ganged up on me that you could work together. But I couldn't just stop the test from a simple observation. I had to make sure it wasn't a one time deal and you could work anywhere, any time. Tomu and Katsu can work together in close range offensive fields, Tomu and Akiko can work mid to long range with weapons, Katsu and Akiko can work as a sensory team, etc. Yeah I already figured it out." Anko listed, earning smiles and grins from each of the teens.

"But don't think that just because you can work together like team means you're ready to handle whatever's outside these walls. There are people who can kick your asses without batting an eyelash, alone or together, it doesn't matter. And it's my job to make sure you get stronger."

"Then what do we do now?" Tomu asked.

Anko pulled out the clock from behind her back. "When did she-" Tomu muttered until Anko cut him off. "While we have a lot of time leftover, I know that you guys needs to rest. You just pulled off a test, even though it wasn't much," She mumbled the last part. "So I expect you to get some rest for today. Tomorrow you'll get your first mission."

Hearing that, Tomu gave Anko the first smile since he got to the training ground. "Now I gotta report to the Hokage. See ya later kiddies!" Anko said before disappearing in a Shunshin, leaving the trio to themselves.

As the smoke of Anko's Shunshin gently blew away with the breeze, Tomu gave a long exhale of air and ran his fingers through his black locks.

"What's wrong?" Akiko asked.

"Today," The swordsman breathed. He opened up an eye to look at the last of the smoke before it disappeared. "had been a _very_ stressful morning. And Anko didn't help it one bit."

Akiko snorted in amusement and lightly elbowed Tomu in the arm. "Well look on the bright side. Not only did we pass, we've been given the rest of the day off! I for one am glad that we don't have to worry about a stupid graduation test anymore and can finally relax for the rest of the day." She said, rolling her shoulders as if they were sore. Katsu nodded and turned his head towards the sky. He saw the position of the sun and sighed. "Yeah, that's nice and all, but it's not even noon yet. What are we gonna do for the rest of the day?"

Akiko shrugged. "I don't know, what about a movie?" Katsu opened his mouth to suggest something, only for Akiko to glare. "Don't you dare say training or else I'll break your fingers." Katsu frowned and crossed his arms.

"Okay then, what else are we gonna do cause I'm not watching movies all day."

"What about the spa?"

"Hell no." Katsu said flatly. "Wanna go get something to eat?"

"For more than 4 hours? As if."

While Katsu and Akiko continued to bicker back and forth about what to do for the rest of the day, Tomu's stood quiet and just stared off into space.

Kept as a secret, since he had gotten to the training ground something had been bothering him nonstop and it was finally reaching its toll. Tomu continued to think and mumble incoherent words under his breath as if he was trying to remember something. But with his mind somewhere else, Tomu didn't seem to notice both of his friend's had been trying to talk to him for that last 2 minutes.

"...mu... yo, Tomu!" The black haired teen came back from his thoughts and shook his head back into reality. Tomu blinked and looked side to side where Katsu gave him an arched brow and Akiko gave him a worried look. "Dude, you alright? You were spacing out." Katsu asked slowly with Akiko nodding. "Yeah, we tried talking to you, but you wouldn't answer. Something wrong?"

Tomu shook his head before he looked back where the clearing of the training ground located; or more specifically passed it where the rest of the village remained. "Did you guys figure out what to do today?" He asked, earning two head shakes in return. "Good, cause I just remembered I have something to do. I want you guys to come with me." Without giving a warning, Tomu jumped into the tree tops and started to speed towards the village.

Akiko looked at Katsu with a questioning look. After shrugging for his answer, Katsu took off into the trees as well with Akiko not far behind.

* * *

"Team 4 passed." A voice said.

"Team 11 failed." Another voice said.

"Team 2 passed." This time the voice came from a man with bowl haircut and a green spandex suit. Might Gai stood with a proud smile on his face while Anko stood next to him with the same expression, albeit it being a more of a smug grin. "Team 1 passed with flying colors, Hokage-sama!" Anko called out, looking pass the roomful of surprised Jonin to the person in the front, a person who wore a white and red robe accompanied by a hat. There was a symbol on the front of hat, a Kanji symbol that represented Fire. The person was an elderly looking man with a long grey beard and smoke pipe resting between his lips.

"Is that so?" The Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, scanned the room of elite Shinobi and Kunoichi while a lady stood next to him with a clipboard. "I believe that's everyone correct?" Hiruzen turned to his secretary who looked up from her clipboard and nodded. "Please check once more if we're missing something, Kane-san." Kane nodded and ran her eyes over the clipboard, while Jonin began having small talk among themselves.

Smiling and blowing out a small puff of smoke, Hiruzen took out his pipe and stood tall. 'The new generation has been chosen...' Hiruzen thought as he remembered all of the Jonin that attended the meeting. '20 Jonin... but only 10 had passed... shame.'

While Hiruzen was proud of the graduates-now-turned Genin, it still left him a tidbit bitter when he thought of the ones who didn't make it. Hiruzen shook his head. 'No, a ninja who can't work together with comrades aren't fit to be Konoha ninja.' He thought back to his last visit to the academy. Even at an old age, Hiruzen's memory was perfect. He could account all of the faces and names of each student.

'Team 2 had passed... Gai's team consisting of,' An image of a white eyed male with long brown hair popped into his head. 'Hyuuga Neji...' Next was the black haired teen with bushy eyebrows. 'Rock Lee...' And finally the female of the group that wore her traditional Chinese outfit. 'Higurashi Tenten...' Hiruzen hummed to himself as he focused particularly on Neji. Hiruzen frowned as memories of the Hyuuga started to come up. 'While I worry about Neji's attitude, I still believe that those three have great potential. I just hope they learn how to work as a team.'

Hiruzen looked into the crowd in front of him, trying to locate Gai. He found the Taijutsu Specialist laughing with Anko. 'With Gai as their sensei, I'm sure they'll learn the value of teamwork, especially Neji.' That was then Hiruzen realized that Gai was their sensei. The man who's eccentric personality doesn't know the meaning of 'Taking it easy'. The man who was gonna train children into young, capable adults...

Hiruzen pulled at his hat and sweatdropped at the image of Neji, Lee, and Tenten wearing matching green spandex suits. 'I feel bad for them now.'

"My team is gonna be the best of this generation, I promise you that Anko!" Gai's laugh had caught Hiruzen's attention. His sweatdrop slipped lower when he saw Gai clench a hand into a ball and eyes explode with flames of determination. "I can see it now. I'm gonna train them to be the strongest team this village has ever seen!"

Anko scoffed at the Taijutsu expert and gave a smug smirk. "I'm sure they'll be strong Gai, but I'm putting my money on my team. They properly know how to work together, even at the beginning of my test, and they're skills aren't like most rookie graduates." Gai was about to go off about how his team will learn of the Flames of Youth and beat any enemy, but Anko beat him to the chase.

"Before you go yelling about youth," Anko sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Just be happy that your students are easily to handle. But I can't say the same about mine." Hiruzen placed his focus from Gai to Anko, his face turning serious. Gai looked perplexed. "What do you mean, Anko?"

"I telling you Gai, my kids are gonna be a challenge." Anko said, crossing her arms with a huff. "I mean just after my test, they almost mauled me after I made a joke!"

"What did you say to them? Surely it wasn't that bad." Gai assured, only to see Anko roll her eyes slowly with a long "Well..."

"Anko..." Gai started, raising a brow. Anko raised her hands defensively. "I just wanted to see their faces if I said they failed! What, is that a crime?" Anko laughed while Gai face-palmed himself and shook his head in disbelief. "But it was still worth it! Tomu, looked like he was about to blow a casket!"

The Sandaime continued to stare at Anko in silence and the name Tomu finally passed through his ears. "Hokage-sama, everyone is accounted for. I have the listed teams right here." Kane informed, holding up her clipboard. Hiruzen nodded and raised his hand for everyone to give him their attention. As if a switch was flipped, the chatter immediately stopped and all Jonin turned to their leader. "I thank you for attending this meeting. You are dismissed."

As Hiruzen watched the Jonin walk out of the room, he caught onto the spiky bundle of purple hair that was just about to exit through the door. "Um, Anko? May I have a word with you please?" Hiruzen called out, making Anko looked back with an 'I didn't do it' sort of face. After telling Gai she'll meet up with him later, Anko pushed her way through the crowd.

"You called, Hokage-sama?" Anko asked, earning a nod.

"Yes, I have something I need to talk to you about." Anko looked at Hiruzen with an alarmed expression, only to see a hand raised. "Don't worry, nothing bad happened. But it's still an important case."

"What is it then?"

"It's about your team. Or more precisely one of your students, Shokku Tomu." Hiruzen gestured Anko to follow him. "We'll talk more in my office." As Anko followed behind her superior, she frowned. 'What did the Gaki do this time? He's been my student for 20 minutes and he's already in trouble?' Anko shook her head. 'Baka.'

* * *

"Um, you gonna tell us why we're here?" Akiko asked, standing atop of a roof alongside her friends. She followed Tomu's eyes and found herself looking down at an apartment complex. Both Katsu and Akiko had been trying to get an answer out of Tomu ever since they caught up to him at the entrance to the training ground. But instead of answering their questions like they wanted him to, Tomu only answered each time with "I'm just checking up on someone." Leaving the two in the dark and not giving any clues about what they were doing or where they were going.

So far, the only thing that found out was where they were headed. Which was an apartment. That neither Akiko or Katsu had ever been to before.

"Tomu, dude can you answer us this time? With an actual answer?" Katsu said, starting to get annoyed about Tomu's 'mystery adventure'.

Tomu sighed and rolled up his left sleeve, revealing his watch. Staring at the position of the hands, Tomu looked back up towards the apartment. "10:41." Tomu muttered to himself. "He should be arriving soon..." Katsu's brow twitched at being ignored while Akiko rubbed her forehead. Katsu roughly gripped the collar of Tomu's jacket.

"Who! Are! We! Waiting! For!?" Katsu gritted, only for Tomu to smirk and point downwards. "Look for yourself, he just turned the corner." Both Akiko and Katsu looked, only to see random villagers walking through the streets.

"Can you be any more specific?" Akiko deadpanned, making Tomu's eyes roll. He gestured his entire hand down to the streets. "How about you guys look at the only person that's wearing a kitsune mask." This time with a helpful clue on who to look for, Katsu let go of Tomu's collar and scanned the crowds. Akiko looked too and eventually found who exactly they were looking for. "There!" She pointed to the mask wearing civilian, who had taken a sharp turn into an alley between the apartment building.

"There's my guy." Tomu said before jumping from the roof he was standing on to the roof of the nearest apartment building.

The masked civilian stopped once he was halfway through the alleyway, looking around cautiously. "Hey!" The civilian violently flinched when Tomu dropped in front of him, as well as Akiko and Katsu behind him. The civilian took a step back and accidentally tripped over his own feet, causing him to crash into the trash cans behind him.

Tomu quickly held up his hands and took a small step towards the scared civilian. "Whoa, whoa, chill out! Don't you remember me? It's Tomu." Tomu said quickly while the two behind him took in the mask wearer's appearance. Apparently the person trying to pick himself up from garbage was a kid. He wore a sleeveless orange hoodie that had been put up to cover his hair and underneath the hoodie was a blue T-shirt. His shorts were orange cargo shorts and his sandals were blue.

"Who is this?" Akiko asked quietly, making sure not to startle the boy anymore than he already was. Tomu held out a hand to help the boy up. After hesitating to take the hand, the masked boy grabbed Tomu's hand and stood up from the garbage bags. The boy began wiping the dirt from his clothes and a quiet voice came from within the mask.

"Thanks."

Tomu smiled. "No problem. Sorry if I scared you."

The boy shook his head. "No, it's okay. I've been jumpy all day." The boy looked passed Tomu and spotted his friends. The boy tensed up and raised a finger. "W-Who are they?" He stuttered and Tomu put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, they won't hurt you. They're my friends. Come on, say hello." Nobody could tell what the boy's face looked like underneath the mask, but when the boy didn't do anything Akiko and Katsu figured he was uncomfortable.

Slowly, but surely, the boy's hands were raised and pulled back his hood. A large spiky bush of golden blonde hair stood tall on the boy's head while his hands twitched as they moved to his mask. Tomu saw his hand pause midway and gave a comforting smile. "Trust me."

After standing frozen for a good few more seconds, the boy sighed and his fingers clasped the mask's face. Akiko and Katsu unknowingly leaned in a bit in curiosity just as the mask was pulled off. Tomu's smile stretched wider just as the boy's face was finally revealed. "Guys," Tomu began turning to his stunned friends. "I'd like you to meet Uzumaki Naruto."

Cerulean eyes opened up and a forced, nervous looking smile broke the straight whisker marks on his cheeks. It took both Katsu and Akiko a few seconds to realize just who was standing in front of them, even after Tomu had announced his name.

"Uh..." Tomu waved his hands in front of their faces. "You guys there?"

"I don't think they like me." Naruto said, taking an unconscious step backwards.

Akiko, being the first to realize how uncomfortable Naruto was getting, elbowed Katsu and gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry, we didn't mean to stare like that, but it's just..." Akiko looked to Tomu with a raised brow before turning back to Naruto. "We honestly didn't expect to meet you out of all people. No offense." She added quickly. Naruto gave a sad smile and rubbed his arm. "Yeah, I get that a lot."

"So Tomu," Katsu began, leaning forward with a questioning brow. "Mind telling us why we're here exactly?"

_Wham!_

Katsu found himself sliding down the brick wall with a lump on his head.

"Don't be rude!" Akiko growled, holding a smoking fist.

Tomu chuckled and wrapped an arm around Naruto's shoulder. He didn't take notice to Naruto flinching however. "Well, my boy Naruto here has a problem." Tomu gave a smirk and poked Naruto in the chest, who in turn looked back with a questioning gaze. "And his problem is... he has no friends." The blonde was quick to drop his head in embarrassment. "Besides me of course!" Tomu sheepishly chuckled and gave a pat on the back.

Akiko blinked in surprise. "Oh is that all? Well why didn't you say so?" Akiko pulled Katsu back up by his collar, wiggling him side to side as if she was trying to wake him up. "We'd be happy to be your friends!" Hearing no answer from Katsu, Akiko turned her head with an evil smile. "Right Katsu-Baka?"

With a final shake, Katsu 'woke up' and nodded furiously. "Yeah, yeah!"

Tomu smiled at his friend's antics and gave a side glance to Naruto. His smile faded when he noticed the blonde was looking down with a frown. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"How do I know... they won't trick me like the others did...?"

The teen swordsman sighed before tugging on Naruto's shoulder, hinting him to walk with him away from his two distracted teammates. When Tomu was far enough from Katsu and Akiko, he took his hand off of Naruto's shoulder and scratched his head. Naruto crossed his arms, hugging his elbows as he leaned against the wall. "Look Naruto," Tomu began, using the trashcan on his right as an arm rest. "We may not have been friends for long, but it still bugs me to see someone like you being an outcast."

"It's not like I want to be." Naruto shot back. It would've sounded like an angry retort if it weren't for the crack in his voice.

"I know, I know. But if you want more friends, you can't keep pushing them away because you think they'll stab you in the back."

Tomu saw his blonde friend narrow his eyes, crossed arms wrapping tighter around each other. Naruto started to mumble under his breath, almost low enough where Tomu could barely understand him. Too bad that his ears were trained to pick up even quieter sounds and Tomu cringed when he heard what Naruto was saying. "Too bad I have the scars to remind me."

Tomu wasn't an idiot. And neither was his friends. They all knew who Naruto was, hell even the entire village knows his name and reputation. He was Konoha's Pariah, the biggest outcast known from the poorest civilian to, sadly, even the Hokage. There were occasional times where Tomu took notice of someone running down streets in a panic and each time was the same blonde child. At first Tomu tried not to get involved, but after seeing Naruto getting picked on and even assaulted a few times started to pick away at his patience.

Eventually it came to the point where Tomu started to actually care for the boy. Not only that, he actually started to resent most of the village because of the constant mistreatment. 'Whatever it was it couldn't have been that bad, right?' Tomu thought one time. 'What was so bad that Naruto deserved to be alone and tortured for years?'

The thought plagued Tomu's mind for months and it grew worse with each time he spotted Naruto trying to outrun an angry mob.

He tried to talk to his friend's about Naruto a few months ago, but that was when Tomu was starting to sympathize with the boy. Akiko and Katsu, while they didn't want to get involved with Naruto either, each gave their opinions. Which was how Naruto shouldn't be treated lower than trash and why the village would literally gang up on one child. It made all three disgusted at the actions of the villagers, but at the same time they realized they couldn't do much about it.

They were kids too. And what could kids do against an entire village of civilians and Shinobi alike?

Tomu, Akiko, and Katsu were smart enough to realize that the three of them couldn't do much to change Naruto's treatment, but that didn't mean they weren't going to sit on the sidelines and watch him crack under pressure. They were just waiting, waiting for the right moment to take action.

And Tomu did.

Just yesterday when Tomu departed from his team to get his hand patched up, something popped up that made him show up late to everyone's sparring session. And that something was another Naruto related incident.

This time because Tomu was in the crowd surrounding one of the village's mask and decoration stores, he was able to witness Naruto getting assaulted by the shop owner up close.

Though no matter how much it pained Tomu to watch Naruto getting a mask whipped into his face, he still remained inside the crowd as to not draw attention to himself. But even then as time ticked away, Tomu had one of his hands inching closer and closer to his swords whether he realized it or not. It was as if he was ready to chop of the shop owners hand if Tomu so much as saw a single finger touch Naruto's skin.

Luckily Naruto gained enough common sense to force his way through the crowd and ran back home before the incident got worse.

Even then, Tomu had that single voice in the back of his head that told him to jump the shop owner after closing time.

Tomu sighed, shaking his head slowly before he knelt down in front of the blonde. He arched a brow and tilted his head forward. "Naruto, trust me on this. I want you to have friends, probably as much as you do. These two, Akiko and Katsu, they're two of the most kindest and funniest people you'll ever meet. It'll be a terrible waste if you decide to push them away."

"But-"

"Nuh-uh, no buts!" Tomu quickly interjected. "Just say you'll give them a shot. I promise you they won't trick you like the other dickheads would."

Naruto chuckled a little, but Tomu caught it before the blonde could cover it up. Naruto watched Tomu gesture to his two teammates with wiggling, suggesting eyebrows. Naruto stared at the swordsman for a few seconds before giving Tomu a shaky nod, a small smile growing. "Ok."

That was all it took for Tomu to jump up with his hands in the air. "Yes!" Tomu's little burst of cheers caught the attention of Katsu and Akiko, earning two heads looking at Naruto and the dancing swordsman. Naruto blushed in embarrassment and his eyes inched towards his mask. "You hear that guys?" Tomu smirked happily, wrapping another over Naruto's shoulder.

The blonde gave him an uncomfortable, stern glare.

"Looks like we got another member to join our friend circle!" Tomu pointed a thumb at the uncomfortable blonde. "Say hello to Uzumaki Naruto!"

Akiko gasped and a large smile grew on her face. Her mouth opened to join in Tomu's cheers, only for Katsu's hand to cover it. Akiko as well as the other two males looked at Katsu in confusion, who in turn stared directly into Tomu's eyes. "But Tomu..." Katsu's voice was serious.

"What?"

"We already said hello."

"... shut up."

* * *

Anko shook her head slowly, eyes scanning over the document for the third time. "W-What? But this isn't possible."

Hiruzen took another puff of his pipe. "It's the truth Anko-san. I've conducted several different tests and all of them led up to the same results." The Hokage calmly looked up from another document that was brought up as another civilian dispute. "But Tomu is-" He pulled the pipe out of his mouth and held it lazily in his fingers. "Another village secret that is meant to stay a secret."

"Hokage-sama, you can't be serious! H-His heritage-"

"Is a crucial piece of information only given to those that I can trust. And being his sensei, you fit that role perfectly." Anko continued to sputter in disbelief, trying to come up with words, but Hiruzen beat her to the punch. The old man balled his hands together and leaned forward over his desk, smoke pipe now resting on the ashtray. "Anko-san, you must understand that this information is an S Ranked village secret. If I hear word of this from anybody else, the consequences will be dire. Do you understand me?"

The purple haired Jonin looked at Hiruzen with wide eyes before a long breath escaped through her lips. Anko lowered the document onto his desk and nodded. "I understand Hokage-sama." Hiruzen nodded in return and placed the smoke pipe back in his mouth, leaning back in his chair and reviewing another document of a civilian complaint. "But what am I supposed to do now that I know?"

"That's easy." Hiruzen smiled without taking his eyes off of the document. "Treat him like you would any other Genin. But make sure you protect him _and_ his secret."

* * *

**King of Swag: And there you have it, the long awaited chapter of Team Crazy! **

**Cheshire-Cat-Chan: Oh my god, you took forever...!**

**King of Swag: Oh be quiet, just be glad I updated at all!**

**Spider-mantheraper: Can we all just be happy that there's a new chapter?**

**King of Swag: Exactly! Now before we go, I have to tell the readers an important message! This story was meant to be a side-story, like a mini-project. Because of this, production of this fanfic won't be on daily schedules, but that doesn't mean I'm giving up on it! I'm secretly working more on the plotline whenever I have the time! So please don't think I've abandoned my loyal subjects! Hope you all understand, now PEACE!**

**REVIEW AND SUGGEST THIS STORY TO YOUR FRIENDS!**


	6. The 'Easiest' Mission Ever

**The King of Swag: Hello everybody! Thought I forgot about this story, huh? **

**Cheshire-Cat-Chan: Once again, this is reaaally late.**

**Spider-mantheraper: Yeah.**

**King of Swag: Well shit happens, things will be coming and going. Stuff will be changing.**

**Spider-mantheraper: Eh, doesn't really matter to me. As long as this story continues. **

**Cheshire-Cat-Chan: Me too, been a while since the last update.**

**King of Swag: Yeah, well hopefully none of our readers thinks we're dead.**

**Cheshire-Cat-Chan: You're gonna jinxed us...**

**King of Swag: Life is already a jinx.**

**Cheshire-Cat-Chan: I hate you.**

**Spider-mantheraper: (Laughs at arguing partners) We don't own Naruto, just our OC.**

**(PS - Updates will take a while due to me working on other stories at home. Some of my longer running stories, some new that I'm trying to get out of the way. Just be patient peoples!)**

* * *

**Chapter 6: The 'Easiest Mission Ever'...**

"You know," Tomū mumbled in annoyance. "When I asked to be a ninja, I didn't think we'd be signing up for dumb missions like this."

The small earpiece in his right ear buzzed. "_Oh stop complaining like a little bitch. You should be glad that you're getting money for this._"

"As a Jonin, you can earn more in a week than I could a year!"

"_Money is money, Gaki. Be happy you're getting anything at all._"

"Yeah, like 50 ryo."

"_Still money~_" The veins in Tomū's forehead bulged in frustration.

"You know what-"

"_Worry about the money for later, Gaki._" Anko interrupted. "_Time to focus on your mission._"

"We're trying to catch a cat!" Tomū whispered angrily, trying not to give his position away. "A _fucking_ cat!"

"_Correction, the _Daimyo's wife's_ cat._"

"Still a stupid cat-"

"_Will you guys stop arguing already!?_" Akiko's voice buzzed in, making Tomū flinch from the loud volume. "_I for one, want to get this dumb mission over with!_"

"_She's right._" Katsu spoke with a yawn. "_I'm getting pretty bored myself_."

Tomū's right eye twitched before pinching the bridge of his nose. He sighed. "You know what, fine. Let's finish this up already."

"_Glad to see you're up for the challenge, Gaki!_" Anko happily chirped. Tomū growled in return. "_Now, are you whiny shit-stains in position?_"

"Yeah," Tomū said quietly, leaning out from behind a tree. His eyes slowly scanned his surroundings, taking notice of any unnatural movements. "I'm in position." Out of the top left corner of his eye, he spotted some branches and leafs move slightly before hearing Katsu's voice buzz in.

"_I'm good._"

"_Me too_." Looking over, Tomū spotted Akiko leaning against another tree. She was giving him a thumbs-up before looking passed her tree.

"_Good, now have you spotted our target?_" Anko asked.

Almost exactly as she said that, all three of the teens heard rustling come from a bush. Quickly silencing themselves, they're eyes traveled over to a shaking bush. No sooner than a second, a white colored furry head popped out. Pointy ears twitching, the head looked around before calmly walking out of the bush.

Tomū pressed a button on his mic and made sure his voice was low enough as to not alert the cat of his presence. "We've spotted something."

"_Description?_"

"Snow white fur, cerulean eyes, and a dark red collar around the neck. Possibly female."

"_That's our target!_" Anko's declared. "_Quick, catch that son of a bitch!_"

At their sensei's command, all three of them rushed out of their hiding places and raced to capture the white cat.

However, their sudden appearance had attracted the cat's attention, making her eyes widen in surprise. "Gotcha!" The cat arched her back and hissed angrily at whoever was closest, aka Katsu.

The Hyūga had dove for the cat first, but the cat didn't waste any time using her reflexes to jump over his head and land on his back instead. Katsu winced at the sudden feeling of several claws digging into the skin of his back.

Seeing the other two chasing after it, the cat immediately jumped off of Katsu and made a beeline for the bushes.

"Don't let it escape!" Tomū shouted, already giving chase after the feline through the bushes.

"Shit," Katsu winced and hesitated to move, already feeling the cuts start to burn from the friction of his shirt. He heard a whistle and saw Akiko jump into the tree tops.

"Get over it! Move your ass!" Akiko barked before speeding off after their teammate and target.

"_Yeah, be a man!_" Anko laughed through the earpiece.

Katsu rolled his eyes and with a scowl, he pushed himself to his feet. Ignoring the sharp pains in his back, he followed after Akiko. Though he did give a few curses as he tried to ignore the burning the more he ran.

* * *

"Why... the hell... is it so hard... to catch... a fucking... CAT!?" Tomū panted as he witnessed the cat rush under yet _another_ vegetable food cart and scampering out the other side.

The owner of the food cart watched in shock and confusion as Tomū, wasting less time, jumped over the cart to continue chase.

So far, Team 1 had been racing after the cat for nearly an hour. If Tomū had enough breath to form a complete sentence, there was no doubt he'd voice his complaint about how the D Rank mission to catch the Daimyo's wife's pet cat went from 'easiest and dumbest assignment in the world' and turning into the world's most agitating running nightmare.

And the nightmare only got worse when the cat had finally managed to disappear in the crowds of civilians.

Tomū made a mental note to remind the Daimyo's wife to '… _tie this cat to a fucking lawn mower._'

"_Maybe if you use your skills as a shinobi to catch it, you wouldn't need to waste so much time._" Anko chimed in flatly.

"And why aren't... you helping…!?" Tomū demanded, his rage making a temporary turn to his mentor.

"_This is a mission for a Genin; aka you, you dumbass. Not for an awesome Jonin like me._" Tomū was about to scream in outrage until he heard a slurping sound from the other end. He nearly stopped running from pure disbelief. "_Wow, this lemon iced-tea is the shit!_"

"You're drinking goddamn tea while I'm busting my ass for an old lady's cat!? Are you fucking serious!?" His screaming had gotten the attention of other villagers, who looked at him with bewildered expressions. He didn't even notice. He was focused on his lazy-ass, so called Jonin sensei.

"_Sorry Gaki, my dango is here. Call back when you catch the cat_."

"Anko-sensei, don't you dare-"

_*Click!*_

"...I hate her so much." The teen huffed in silent rage.

"_Tomū, look up!_" Somehow, he heard Akiko's voice in his ear over the numerous chatter of the streets. He looked up to see Akiko jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Like him, Akiko had sweat trailing down her face and her breathing was heavy.

"Where's the cat!?" Tomū asked, his anger forgotten. For now.

Akiko scanned over the streets with rapid eyes before she could see something white bolting through the sea of legs out into an alley way. _"She_ _took a turn into the alley, go right!_"

_"Good!_ _I'm on the other side! We'll trap her!_" Katsu popped in.

Spotting said route coming up fast, Tomū tried to do a sharp turn. Only for the momentum of his speed to cause him to stumble into a set of tables from an outside cafe. After crashing into the tables, causing food and drinks to fly everywhere, Tomū rubbed his head with a groan vibrating in his throat. "_Hurry!_" Akiko reminded, sounding annoyed. Ignoring the amused expressions from bystanders and the angry yells of the staff, Tomū pushed himself off of the remains of a broken table and bolted down into the alley way.

The second he ran into the narrow road, he spotted the white cat running through a small group of trashcans and bags. Hearing something metallic rolling across the ground, Tomū looked up to see Katsu at the other end. He had kicked a garbage can out of his way and now stood with his arms out.

Tomū slowed down and allowed a moment's breath of relief to escape his lips. _'Thank Kami, we final caught her-_'

"_ACK!_" He flinched when he heard Katsu's scream through the mic and the echo from down the alley.

Jaw hanging in disbelief, Tomū watched as the cat had jumped on top of the trashcan and pounced on Katsu's face, digging her claws into his skin. Trying to run over his face, the cat eventually climbed over the Hyūga's head and left Katsu to fall to the ground, holding his now scratched up and bleeding face. "Kami dammit! The pain!" Katsu exclaimed.

Picking up his running speed, again, the swordsman didn't bother to stop for his teammate. "You had ONE FUCKING JOB!" Tomū exclaimed in outrage as he jumped over his fallen friend and continued to run after their target.

"The pain...!" Katsu winced as he slowly got back up. His pale eyes held tiny tears of pain, but after a sharp inhale through his nose, the tears disappeared and he narrowed his eyes in anger. "I'm going to kill that damn cat!" He snarled before taking off to catch the cat, but this time for a different reason.

Akiko gave a grunt as she jumped onto another apartment complex roof. She looked over the edge and gasped when she saw the cat running towards, "_Tomū, she's trying to escape into the forest!_" Akiko warned. "_We're gonna lose it if we don't pick up the pace!_"

Forehead vein bulging in irritation, Tomū increased his speed as he jumped on top of a random table. "Not on my watch!" Tomū growled as he looked up to an apartment balcony.

There he spotted a chubby woman pinning wet clothing onto a rope. Leaping up, he grabbed onto a metal railing and pulled himself higher. Then he rushed down the balcony with his hand out. Tomū quickly snatched what he was looking for, a large brown bed sheet, and jumped off the balcony after dodging a swipe from the angry and surprised woman.

After Tomū jumped off the balcony, he spotted the cat only a few meters away from large bushes. Holding out the bed sheet with his hands, Tomū gave a victorious "You're mine you little shit!" He could see the cat look up at him in surprise before he landed on her, covering her up with the sheet and rolling into the bushes.

"I got her!" Tomū announced, holding the kicking blanket in his arms. He looked down with an evil grin. "And there's no way I'm letting it go-"

The sheet ruffled a bit more before a white furry head popped out to glare at him, only for blue slit eyes to widen at the sight of him. Tomū responded with a glare of his own, obviously tired and irritated at the overly long chase. The teen huffed at the cat's innocent look, but the longer he stared into her eyes, he found that his anger was slowly disappearing.

It was the breaking point when the cat tilted her head and gave a gentle meow.

Tomū's cheeks flushed from the cuteness before he smiled and pulled the cat closer, allowing her to snuggle into his chest. "Aw, you're so cute!"

"You're so DEAD!" From the sudden scream, Tomū's eyes widened when he saw Katsu jump down from a tree branch, tackling both him and the cat into a rolling heap of grunts and surprised screams. Managing to roll back onto his feet, Tomū backed up quickly from the angry Hyūga, who was standing back up with a kunai in hand.

Katsu gestured with his free hand and simply said "Give me the fucking cat."

"What the hell are you doing!?" Tomū screamed, taking another step back.

"Getting revenge!" As if it weren't obvious, Katsu pointed to one of his scratch marks, a large red gash on the left side of his nose. Tomū winced at the bleeding wound before he looked down to the cat in his arms. Who was licking her paws to get some dirt and... Katsu's blood out of her fur. Once again, Tomū's cheeks grew warm and he hugged the cat tighter.

"Ooh, there's no way!" Tomū held up the cat to Katsu's face, who in turn flinched and took a cautious step back. "Look at this face! Would she do such a thing?" The feline gave Katsu a malicious glare and smirk, causing Katsu to grind his teeth together.

"All I see is an ugly hell-spawn with claw!"

Tomū scoffed, placing the cat on his shoulder to keep away from Katsu. "Don't listen to him, he's delusional." He ran a hand down her back and narrowed his eyes at Katsu. The cat started to purr and rub her face against Tomū's.

"What are you talking about!?" Katsu said in complete disbelief. He pointed to the cat with an accusing finger. "You WATCHED her maul my face off!"

"... There was sweat in my eyes..."

"Bullshit!" Katsu made an attempt to jump forward, only for a hand to reach out of a bush and yank hard on the back of his collar. Katsu gagged in surprise before he turned around to glare at whoever was behind him. He found his sensei holding onto his collar with one hand while holding a drink in the other.

"Now now bug eyes, no need to get so angry. If you'll remember, we actually need the cat alive to complete the mission." Anko advised with an amused smile.

Her eyes traveled to the cat in Tomū's arms, glancing over its features. "White fur, cerulean eyes, dark red collar, yup this is the right cat!" Anko chuckled to herself and looked down at Katsu with a teasing grin. "Bet it would've been frustrating if you wasted an entire hour chasing after the wrong cat." The purple haired Jonin looked up at Tomū and moved a small cup to her mouth, taking a slurp of her drink through the straw.

She expected her little black haired swordsman to yell at her for 'not helping' in an hour long chase to capture a cat. However instead of her expected reaction, she found Tomū currently rubbing noses with the cat and making baby noises. Staring in interest and amusement, Anko slowly pulled the straw from her lips while Katsu was shaking his head with crossed arms, eyes trying to burn holes in the cat's back.

"Ok," Anko said slowly, inwardly cursing herself for not bringing a camera. She had a feeling something was gonna happen the second they accepted the mission from the Hokage. Speaking of the Hokage, "Why don't we go report in and get some money? Pretty sure the Daimyo's wife would be willing to pay a bit more for a D Rank..." Anko wiggled her eyebrows in a suggestive manner, clearly hinting about the wealthy woman's unhealthy habit of throwing more money than necessary.

Though nobody noticed how the cat's eyes snapped open in fear at the mention of her owner.

Tomū gave a dejected sigh and cradled the cat in his arms, unconsciously keeping her held tight against his chest. "I guess we should." He drawled.

"Wow Gaki, didn't take you as a cat-person type." Anko mused, taking notice how his cheery mood did a perfect 180.

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me." He retorted blandly.

"Uh huh, keep telling yourself that. I already know what you do on Sunday nights..." Tomū immediately blushed and tried to call her out on invading his privacy. Anko just waved her hand and took another slurp of her tea before finally letting go of Katsu's collar. Using her now free hand, Anko pointed her thumb back to the Hokage tower. "Anyway, let's get a move on!"

"Yeah, yeah-" As soon as Tomū took a step, he paused and looked around. "Wait, where's Akiko?"

When they all starting to look around in search of their last member, the silence enabled them to heard ragged breathing in their earpieces. "_Look... up... house... patio..._"

Almost simultaneously Anko, Tomū, Katsu and even the cat, looked up to the nearest apartment building.

There, leaning against the balcony railing all sweaty and huffing was Akiko. She was barely standing, almost kneeling against the railing while the same chubby lady came out of a door with a glass of water and a concerned frown. Akiko didn't even bother drinking and instead opted to practically inhaling the drink.

Behind her, the lady desperately tried to cool her off with a small paper fan, not trying to have some random girl pass out on her patio.

* * *

"Oh, I do hope my little Yuki-chan is alright," The Daimyo's wife said in distress. "You know, she could never find her way to anywhere, always getting lost wherever she walked. You know what I mean, dontcha'? You must've had pets too right?" She turned to the Sandaime.

Said older man was trying to ignore the woman's constant yammering by reading over some recent 'less important' documents regarding some damage to a local cafe caused by a 'black haired teenager with two swords and a white cat'.

He'd have to deal with that later when the Daimyo's wife wasn't present in his village.

He blew out a stream of smoke.

Not that the woman needed to know about village destruction involving her cat.

"You understand right?" She repeated.

"Huh...?" Hiruzen glanced up from his papers with a lazy look. He had barely payed any attention to whatever she said. Nevertheless, he responded and gave her a slow nod. The Daimyo's wife gave him a small smile and clapped her hands. "Oh yeah. I understand..." He muttered with a forced smile. '_What the hell was she talking about?_'

"Of course, with you being a Hokage and all, you must love animals as much as your villagers. Almost as much as I love my Yuki-chan!" The Daimyo's wife said with a happy nod.

'_Oh right,_' Hiruzen deadpanned and mentally slapped himself. '_Her cat. She's still on about that?_'

He expected more to come from the woman's mouth about her 'precious Yuki-chan'. But when Hiruzen heard nothing else from her mouth for nearly an entire minute, he sighed in relief and continued to read. Then, "Oh!"

His hand clenched the paper a bit too tightly when the woman stood up and walked over to the opposite side of his office. "Look how young you were!" She pointed to one of the many portraits of the wall, where a younger Hiruzen smiled back in a picture hung between the Nidaime and Yondaime Hokage.

"When was this taken?"

"Almost 20 years ago."

"Oh, how the years go by," The woman cupped her cheeks and swayed in her spot. "I remember being such a beautiful girl, all slender and young minded. Too bad you're the Hokage. It's obvious the stress of watching over an entire village took its toll on you."

"And you talking non-stop isn't helping." Hiruzen muttered under his breath, his irritation spiking at the oblivious woman's unnecessary comment. He knew he was old, no need to remind him!

"What was that?" The woman turned to him with a smile, still happy about her trip down memory lane.

"Nothing, nothing." Hiruzen quickly coughed and waved his hand, playing off his annoyance with a fake smile. "Just talking to myself."

"About what?" Kami, the mouth on this woman was starting to get on his nerves with each syllable.

He had to think of something fast. His eyes trailed over his paperwork and tried to find a topic to talk about. Then he got it. "About this year's academy student education system." It wasn't that much of a lie.

He hadn't thought about it for the last 2 hours, but he knew that somewhere in his ever growing pile of work, he needed to find a file about improving class methods. Mainly the basics on becoming shinobi and learning more about Konohagakure's history. It was almost mandatory that he reached that document.

Especially when a certain little blonde was currently enrolled in the academy.

But somehow whenever he got close to reaching the documents, his secretary always came in to add in another pile. It was almost as if she didn't want him to improve the academy...

He made a mental note to have a chat later with Kane-san.

However, he had a bigger problem to deal with. A chatter box known as the Daimyo's wife.

"Speaking of children," Her face grew sour and she crossed her arms in a huff. Hiruzen nearly buried his head in his hands. '_She just never stops!_' He thought in exasperation. "I must say how bad the generations are getting nowadays. Most of them are starting to get sassy, especially the females. And the boys are getting cockier. Nonetheless, children these days don't seem to show their elders or superiors the respect they deserve. Always slacking off and expecting rewards for their 'hard work'…"

"But yet there's a group of perfectly capable teenagers who's catching your dumb cat every other week, specifically the one doing it today." He grumbled. Luckily the chubby woman didn't hear him.

Hiruzen gave a guttural groan of annoyance when the woman began looking around the room. Most likely trying to find something to fuel her never-ending need to talk. He mentally began wishing for something, _anything_ to happen and silence the noisy woman in front of him.

"We're back~" Anko declared, opening the door with a happy smile.

'_Thank Kami!_' Hiruzen nearly shouted aloud, rubbing his face in relief. He'd rather deal with Anko than the Daimyo's wife. At least he knew how to deal with Anko's unique 'tendencies'.

Following behind her were her students; Akiko, who was faring better now that she had a chance to rest on Katsu's back and letting her aching legs relax before reaching the tower. Katsu, who had dropped Akiko back onto her feet, began glaring into the eyes of a certain cat. Who was resting on the right shoulder of Tomū.

The Daimyo's wife clapped her hands and squealed in delight when she saw her cat.

Too bad the feeling wasn't mutual.

Yuki immediately meowed in fear and went to jump off Tomū's shoulders, only for the chubby lady's thick fingers to grab a hold of her and pull her into a hug.

"Ooh, my Yuki-chan is back to me! Yuki-chan, Yuki-chan, Yuki-chan~" The woman sang, dancing around while practically suffocating the cat in her cleavage.

Tomū's eyes widened when he heard angry meowing. It was at that moment, something in his mind told him to not take his eyes off the chubby woman.

"As you can see Hokage-sama, we've retrieved the cat." Anko informed before pointing a finger at the clock on the wall. "In record's time too." She added with a grin.

Hiruzen sighed, but nodded nonetheless. Once again, Anko never failed to keep things interesting and unique. In truth, he was honestly glad that they had returned with the cat. Not only is the annoying woman going to leave now that she has her precious cat, they DID break the cat's notorious record for running away. Last record took 2 hour and 48 minutes, but this time her team managed to catch her in an outstanding 1 hour and 15 minutes.

And it was their first time chasing after Yuki as newly graduated Genin.

The Sandaime quickly proceeded to find their mission papers to document as complete, feeling quite eager to get everyone out of his office for peace and quiet. "Good, now if you'll be so kind to give a report on your team's performance, you can receive your payment and our guest will be off quite soon." Although Hiruzen almost sounded a bit _too_ eager for the Daimyo's wife to leave.

And Anko was quick to notice.

Deciding to have a bit of fun, Anko tapped her chin and acted innocent. Hiruzen saw this and his expression wavered, his happy mood dwindling down into irritation.

"Well, I can't exactly describe each of their performances without sounding like a broken record. After all, they pulled the same trap tactics many times and failed." Anko explained slowly, earning a tired glare from her superior. It was mandatory to at least have details about each of her student's. Something Anko already knew. "All I can say is, little Tomū over here had played a big role in chasing after the cat nonstop while Akiko had taken watch over the rooftops as to not lose sight of the target."

Finally, Hiruzen lost all self-restraint and dropped his face in his hands with a low groan. He didn't even care at this point. "And what of Katsu-san?"

What she said next earned a tired and aggravated scowl from said Hyūga.

"He was practically the cat's scratching post, but his face helped slow her down long enough for Tomū to close the distance and effectively catch her in a blanket."

Hiruzen looked up and gave Anko a blank stare, half-expecting to hear an actual formal report of today's mission. Even so, he waved his hand lazily. "Good enough, I don't care. But I expect a real report later." He would've ordered Anko to be serious, but his patience was on thin ice and he _really_ wanted the Daimyo's wife out of his office.

Hiruzen tilted his head to look past Anko and focus on her students. He could smell the sweat from here. Even through his irritation, he gave them a small smile. "Now, I'm sure you're all tired, am I correct?" He saw 2 out of 3 heads nod back at him. "Then I won't hold you up any longer. You are able to go home and rest for the day. You'll receive your payment in the mail soon."

As soon as Akiko and Katsu made a move to bow in thanks, Anko raised her hand and frowned.

"Now hold on there, Hokage-sama." Anko interrupted, ignoring the obvious glares being sent towards the back of her head. As well as the one glaring directly in her eyes. "It's still morning! I'm sure my team is able to handle another mission before lights out." Hearing those words come from their sensei's mouth caused Akiko and Katsu to groan in frustration. They were too tired to do anything else.

"Anko, take a moment and look at how exhausted they are." Hiruzen gestured a hand towards the trio, but mostly focusing on Akiko for she had it the worse. The after-effects of all the acrobatics she pulled off earlier was still taking its toll on her. The girl tried to stand straight, but her legs wouldn't stop wobbling. "They're nearly ready to collapse and I'm pretty sure Katsu needs medical treatment for those cuts."

"Don't worry, they'll be fine! If anything, we should be fine in just an hour's worth of rest!"

"Are you sure? I trust my eyes more than you at the moment."

"110 percent sure!" Anko declared with happily crossed arms.

"… Fine," Hiruzen mentally voiced his sympathies for the two groaning Genin as he went through more of his documents. "Which D Rank mission would you like? Walking the Inuzuka clan's dogs, painting fences, planting crops for farmlands-"

"Actually Hokage-sama, I think my team has proved themselves capable of going on higher ranked missions." Anko said with a grin. Hiruzen didn't share the same expression. He looked back with a serious face.

"Anko, you can't be serious. These three have been Genin for only 5 weeks. Even if they were fully rested, I don't think they're ready to leave the village yet."

"I've been training them every day." That was a lie. She's only bothered brushing their skills up on basic taijutsu once every week to keep them from getting lazy. And Anko twirled a kunai behind her to send a clear message to her students to not rat her out.

"And?"

"You out of all people should know how my training goes. Either they improve or they get crippled." Hiruzen sweatdropped at her blunt, but undoubtedly true methods. "Come on, Hokage-sama! A trip out of the village will do them some good. It'll allow them to see the sights-"

"And risk contact with enemy nations or nuke-nin." Hiruzen interrupted.

"They're ready."

Staring into the eyes of a smirking Anko, Hiruzen tried to think of reasons why fresh Genin shouldn't leave the village so soon.

Within seconds, he had tons of reasons to pit against the Jonin. But he also knew the crazy kunoichi a bit too well. If she was another Jonin sensei, he'd usually have disagreed right off the bat, saying that no amount of training would get them ready in a month. But after receiving small hospital bills from each Genin's parents, as well as complaints for the rough training sessions, he already figured that she'd drill in certain training methods into her students at an early stage.

Hiruzen took another moment to think and he eventually caved.

With a reluctant sigh, he nodded and opened a folder filled with piling C rank missions. His eyes skimmed through different documents, trying to find a suitable assignment for the already exhausted trio. Without looking up, he spoke. "Okay, but I'm enlisting you with a basic protection mission. I'll call you back once I find one. In the meantime, you are able to rest."

Akiko and Katsu nodded at the Hokage, happy at the chance to finally relax.

"Wait a minute," Tomū spoke. Behind him, his teammates had set their glares on him instead of Anko.

"Hm?" Hiruzen hummed.

He had noticed that Tomū hadn't really said a word since he walked through the door. Matter of fact, Tomū hadn't even been paying attention to the conversation about his team receiving a C rank. He was however, focusing more on the Daimyo's wife and her nearly suffocating cat.

And that filled Hiruzen with a sense of dread.

"Aren't you squeezing her a bit too much?" Tomū slowly questioned, gaining the woman's attention.

"Of course not." She blinked at him before giving a smile and shaking her head. "Yuki-chan loves it when I hug her like this!" As if proving a point, her arms pressed tighter and Tomū thought he heard a bone crack.

Tomū's eyes went wide.

Acting before thinking, Tomū quickly pried the woman's arms open and pulled the cat away from her cleavage before jumping back to his team. Everybody else in the room looked at the teen with wide eyes, not expecting him to forcefully rip the cat from her owner.

Especially said owner.

The Daimyo's Wife looked in puzzlement, stuttering in surprise. "W-What are you doing, young man?"

"You're hurting her, that's what!" Tomū shouted back.

'_Oh Kami no…_' Hiruzen inwardly groaned.

"No I'm not." The Daimyo's wife said.

"You were just suffocating her! Can't you see when your cat is in pain!?"

"Yuki-chan loves mommy's hugs. Isn't that right, honey?" She cooed, reaching to touch Yuki's head, but Tomū pulled back. He'd be damned before he allowed the woman to lay another finger on Yuki.

Seeing the defiance on his face, the wealthy woman began to grow angry. "Young man, give me back my Yuki-chan."

"Why should I?"

Without warning, Anko's fist slammed down on Tomū's head.

And before Tomu could do anything, she leaned down to his ear and whispered through gritted teeth. "Gaki, listen to me when I say give her the damn cat! You do NOT want to get her angry!" Everyone who knew the Daimyo's wife's status was well aware of the consequences should she be denied something she wanted. Most likely, the woman would speak to the actual Daimyo himself and persuade him to cut off all support to Konohagakure. As farfetched as it was, it was entirely possible.

Even if the issue was as simple as a cat.

Although Tomū stood his ground and shook his head, taking a step away from Anko and glaring at her. "No! I won't sit by and let an innocent animal get abused!"

"Abused!?" The Daimyo's wife exclaimed and gasped. "Yuki-chan has never been abused! She's been given a life of royalty! Eating expensive meals every day, given extravagant clothing to wear, and even a king-sized bed to sleep on!"

'_Don't you think that's going overboard?_' Tomū thought to himself in disbelief. Then he arched a brow and looked down at the cat in question. "Does Yuki even like all of those things?"

"Of course she does!"

"… If so, then why don't we let her choose?" Tomū concluded, looking down at the white cat with a smile. Said cat looked up at Tomū with wide eyes. Small, hopeful eyes that went back and forth between him and her owner.

"What do you mean?" The Daimyo's wife almost sounded a bit nervous.

Tomū stepped forward towards the woman, still making sure he and Yuki were out of her reach should she try to snatch Yuki away from him. "I'm going to place Yuki on the ground and if she walks to you, you can have her." Tomū informed, as if this was a basic game. "If she doesn't, then she wants to stay here. Fair game?"

"Yuki-chan is not an object to play with!"

"No, but a living animal that can make choices of her own."

"It's obvious she'll pick me!"

"You seem confident. Let's see if you're right." Tomū gently placed Yuki down on her paws and took a few steps back. The cat sat on her rear and looked up at everyone in the room in a state of surprise. She didn't expect to be put in the spotlight, nonetheless a situation that choices her fate. Yuki quickly glanced up at Tomū, who gave her a warm smile in return. Yuki's eyes then, hesitantly, rolled towards the Daimyo's Wife, who was holding out her hands with a way to big of a smile over her face.

Everybody in the room watched as Yuki stood up and calmly walked over to...

"The fuck?" Tomū said in confusion, eyeing Yuki as she strolled over to the chubby woman. After all he had done, the cat still chose _her!?_

Said woman gave the teen a smug smirk, blowing a raspberry and bending down to pick up her cat. "Come here Yuki-chan, come to mommy!" Yuki quickly ducked under her hands and zoomed to the woman's sandals. The Daimyo's wife yelped in pain when Yuki bared her fangs and bit down on one of her toes before running back towards Tomū. She jumped on his pants and climbed up his shirt, finally settling back down on his right shoulder.

Tomū just blinked in surprise. When Yuki began to rub her face against his cheek, his mouth curled into a smile and placed a hand on her head. Now it was his turn to give the woman a smug smirk. "I guess I win." Tomū concluded, watching at the woman tried to tend to her bleeding toe.

The Daimyo's wife gave Tomū a small glare before looking over at Yuki. "After all I've done for you and this is how you repay me?" She growled before finally standing back up. Turning around to face a sweating Hiruzen, she narrowed her eyes. "Be sure to keep others from turning out like this one. Ugh, the nerve!" With a huff, she quickly walked to the door.

Tomū only let out a laugh when he heard the small grunts of pain.

"I might just find myself another pet. One that wouldn't betray me..." Was all that was heard before the door closed.

Almost all eyes went from the door to Tomū, who was scratching under Yuki's chin.

However, Yuki's ears pointed up and she leaped off his shoulder. Before Tomū could say anything, a fist came flying towards his face and he found himself making a human sized imprint on the wall.

"You BAKA!" Anko roared, pulling Tomū out of the hole by the hem of his jacket and holding him up in the air. The teen's eyes were rolling into the back of his head while Anko began to violently shake him back and forth. "You almost fucking ruined us!"

"W-What... are... you... talking... about...?" Tomū slurred.

Anko dropped him hard on the ground, causing him to groan and rub his arse. With an angry scowl, Anko crossed her arms under her breasts. She leaned in with a forced whisper. "Do you even know who you just pissed off!?"

"W-Who?"

"The Fire Daimyo's fucking _WIFE_, that's who!" Anko shouted.

The color drained from Tomū's face, as did Akiko and Katsu.

They had learned of the Daimyo during their days in the academy. Six were chosen across the lands; The Fire Daimyo, Wind Daimyo, Earth Daimyo, Water Daimyo, Frost Daimyo and Lightning Daimyo, and each were known by their control over one of the several great nations. They are solely responsible for funding each village with necessary resources.

Resources such as _money._

"Oh..." Tomū dumbly said. Which was all he could do when dealing with a pounding headache and an angry Jonin who was ready to beat him to a bloody pulp.

"Oh? OH!? That's all you can say!?" Anko exclaimed. Tomū started to sweat when he saw the Jonin crack her knuckles. "You better hope the Daimyo doesn't strip away our village's resources or else I'll personally see to it that my foot goes right up your ass!"

"S-Sorry...?"

Akiko and Katsu both face-palmed on the sidelines. Today was really starting to get on their nerves.

Not only did they have to chase after a cat for nearly an hour, Anko just _had_ to sign them up for another mission, this time a higher ranked mission and now, not only did Tomū manage to piss off the wife of a Daimyo, he's buddies with the cat that made them so pissed and exhausted in the first place.

Akiko quickly raised her hand and with a scratchy voice, "I… ugh, can we please just leave?"

Hiruzen wasn't far from the same reaction. His face was back in his hands and his head was shaking side to side. He honestly didn't know why he didn't intervene himself. Was it from the satisfaction of watching the Daimyo's wife getting told off, he'll never know.

All that he did know was the woman was now gone, quite upset at losing her favorite pet. From the lack of unnecessary screaming, he could say they had dodged a bullet. But who was to say the woman wouldn't actually tell her husband to cancel all links to the village?

Just forced the thought out of his mind. His age was already catching up to him and the last 20 minutes had likely taken another 10 years off his lifespan. "Yes, just go. All of you. Get out of my office." He mumbled through his fingers.

Akiko and Katsu quickly ran out the door. It had been left to his own guess that they were trying to escape the impending fury of their sensei or get home and rest as much as possible.

Too bad he couldn't see Tomū having much of a choice. Just after the first two left, Anko dragged the dizzy teen across the floor by the collar and left the room without even closing the door. Which allowed a quiet Yuki to slowly make her way out as well, not sure what to do now that she was free.

As soon as the cat was gone, an ANBU revealed themselves from their hiding spot and gently closed the door so their leader didn't have to get up.

Hiruzen gave a hefty sigh as the ANBU disappeared back in the shadows.

He really needed to smoke. And Sake.

A lot of it.

* * *

**_A Few Hours Later..._**

Anko stood before Hiruzen's desk and silently read over the mission document.

Standing behind her was Team 1, each of them having a traveling bag of their own strapped to their backs.

Even if Akiko and Katsu were irritated when Anko stopped by and told them to get ready for a new assignment, they had to admit that they felt a whole lot better after 4 hours of sleep.

Tomū on the other hand… he believed he had dodged a bullet when Anko dropped him off at home, thinking his mother would protect him from Anko's wrath. Only to be placed right in front of cannon fire. After Anko had told Yuri about her son's 'fuck-up with the Daimyo's wife', Tomū soon had to deal with his angry mother after she told Anko she'd handle his punishment.

To put it lightly, Tomū won't be sitting down for quite some time. Not with the burning red belt marks on his ass.

Now that they had enough time to rest and heal up any injuries, they now stood ready to learn what kind of mission they had. And apparently, it was something that would definitely keep them out of the village for more than a week.

Beforehand however, Anko had personally allowed herself to check her students' belongings, making sure they weren't bringing anything unnecessary on the mission that would slow them down. Or worse, killed.

Although she did make sure to mock Tomū for having more medication than the others.

Yeah, she never left his house. She made sure to watch from the building across the street.

With a camera.

Although if she had stayed longer than she had, she would've been disappointed when Yuri stopped spanking her son and soon congratulated him for standing up and getting Yuki away from an obnoxious owner.

Truth be told, Yuri was a die-hard cat lover and actually informed Tomū that she would've done the same. But she also gave him the reminder never to do something so stupid again, especially with someone as important as the Daimyo's wife.

And a little after Yuri's scolding, Anko had sent each of her students a message about leaving for more than a week. With the last of their free time, each of them had told their families about their departure.

Especially Katsu. Being in the Hyūga clan, he had told Hiashi that he would be gone for more than a week. The clan-head had appreciated the information so he would not believe that Katsu was shirking his duties as a member in the Branch Family.

"So, just to clarify, this is all to the mission?" Anko asked.

"Yes," Hiruzen nodded.

"Looks kind of boring, if you ask me." Anko commented.

"I could care less." Hiruzen retorted with a plain frown, leaning back in his chair with a quiet huff. "You asked for a C-Ranked mission and I gave you one. Your team's first assignment is a simple escort mission. You are to make sure our client makes his way back to his home village and protect him from possible mountain bandits."

"What makes the guy so special?" Katsu questioned.

"He is in need of improving his village's financial problems. Because of that, we have provided him with enough resources for his village to finish building a bridge."

"A bridge?" Akiko said, perplexed.

"Anko will fill you in on the details later. Now I want you to meet your new client. Come on in." Everyone heard a click as the door opened and a man walked through. He looked quite young, like he was in his mid-twenties. His hair was grey and spiked up, on his forehead was a rope-like headband, and on his chin was a light X shaped scar mark. He gave Team 1 a warm smile and gave them a mock solute.

"Name's Kaiza." He introduced himself. "Are you the group that's going to travel with me?"

* * *

**King of Swag: And there we have chapter 6! **


	7. Road to Ninja

**King of Swag: Hello, we are back again!**

**Spider-mantheraper: Yo.**

**Cheshire-Cat-Chan: Yeah, it's been a long time.**

**King of Swag: Took the words right out of my mouth.**

**Spider-mantheraper: Wasn't long for me. I just didn't care.**

**King of Swag: Shut up, time works against me.**

**Cheshire-Cat-Chan: Hey, life works against me too.**

**Spider-mantheraper: Too bad. Unlike you guys, I made life my bitch. And bitches work _with_ me.**

**King of Swag: ...**

**Cheshire-Cat-Chan: ...**

**(Author's Note: Before we begin, I'm pretty sure people will have already noticed the change in the story name. I decided to turn Team Crazy into _Fade to Black_. Just wanted to do that. Also, I also believe that people will start thinking I'm lazy at creating missions once we get further into the story. Just like the original storyline, Naruto's team's first C Rank mission takes place in Wave Country and are tasked to protect the 'Bridge Builder' from Gato, Team 1 will have the same scenario. However this was placed in the story to provide a live cover story at the beginning of Gato's reign, with a bit of changes within the mission. So if anybody wants to call me lazy, I don't really care, but I'd like to start with an 'easy' mission to start of the story before having creative missions later. Also, I will be adding new, slight changes to the story. Such as punctuation to names and the fonts for certain speech/thought verses. Maybe even lemons/limes. Remember, if I have some mistakes that bother you, just remember to PM me where I should correct it! I'm trying, I really am XD)**

**(**_PS-I would also appreciate any type of fanart dedicated to this story XD If someone has made or found any artwork, please PM me and I will link it up on my page for everyone to see! Thank you for your time!_**)**

**Disclaimer****: We DO NOT own Naruto! Just our OCs :)**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Road to Ninja**

* * *

"Ah, so you're our client." Anko said. The Jonin scanned over the man with her eyes, a grin growing with each second. "Not too bad looking either..."

"Same to you." Kaiza shot back, arms crossed with a smirk. Anko chuckled and gave the man a mischievous wink. Kaiza turned away from the Jonin looked over the group of teenagers before he raised and eyebrow. He looked up at the Hokage. "Not to be rude and all, but this is the group that's supposed to protect me? You sure a group of kids will be enough, Hokage-sama?"

"While I may have my doubts about this mission," Hiruzen gestured to the teens with a hand. "I do believe that these 'kids' are well trained enough to complete a simple C Rank escort mission."

"Well, my mother always said take whatever you can get." Kaiza shrugged.

"But wait," Akiko intervened, still looking confused. "If all we're doing is taking back to his village to finish a bridge, isn't that the same as a D Rank?"

Hiruzen shook his head. "Because you are leaving the village and going into foreign lands, there is always a risk of an enemy assault. Especially with the mountain bandits that Kaiza has spoken of. Because of said bandits, there is the risk of a ninja being involved while you carry out your mission to protect Kaiza."

"So you're saying this could be a C Rank turned B?" Tomū pointed out, his voice barely hiding his excitement.

"Yes. However," Hiruzen looked over the group with a serious, stern gaze. "should said problems arise during this mission, I highly advise you to rethink your choice about continuing. I do not want any unnecessary bloodshed. Is that clear Anko-san?" It more of a statement than a question when Hiruzen gave Anko a warning glare. He already knew the woman's tendencies to get into problems left and right, be it because of her or another person. Mostly because of her.

The Jonin snorted. "Don't worry. If I find out the Gakis can't handle it, we'll leave as soon as possible." Anko turned towards Kaiza with an arched brow. "Surely you understand right? I gotta put the lives of my team before the mission, ya know."

"Hai, I do." Kaiza's voice sounded like one of expecting disappointment, but nonetheless showing that he understood perfectly. "I, for one, don't want to be responsible for such tragedies."

"Then it's settled!" Anko declared, holding a fist in the air. "We bring Kaiza-kun to his home and kick bandit ass!"

'_Why do I have a feeling something bad is going to happen?_' Hiruzen thought with a sweatdrop, watching Team 1 picking up in excitement along with their purple haired leader.

* * *

"So Kaiza-san," Said man looked down at the youngest female of the group. "What is it like back at Wave Country?"

Kaiza wanted to give the girl a smile, but something kept him from doing so. However that didn't mean he chose to ignore Akiko's question. "Unlike your village, Wave doesn't have shinobi or kunoichi. But that's what makes it peaceful. And because we're located next to the ocean, we've set up markets to trade seafood with neighboring lands. The villager's are always friendly with each other, especially with newcomers. And we always pitch in our own work to help provide the best for the village." Akiko's eyes perked up in interest when Kaiza gave an amused chuckle.

"That and the occasional ocean breeze that sweeps over the village is pleasant as well. Keeps all of us cooled down during the summer." The man gave a sheepish grin and shrugged. "Too bad the winters are harsher and the breeze always smells like fish."

"Wave does sound like a great place to live in, minus the fishy air." Tomū added, earning Kaiza's attention. The swordsman could see that happiness that coated the fisher's words, but his eyes held another emotion. Sadness. "But that can't be all right? There has to be a reason why you're building a bridge and asking Konoha for help."

"Yeah, there is." Kaiza's voice took a deep turn as he looked into the sky. "As I've said about the village having several markets and trade centers, we've had no problem gaining resources. But lately, my village has been having trouble with village finances. And the problem was caused by bandits." Kaiza's hands clenched into fists. "At first the village police would force the bandits away like usual, but after a while the amount of bandit activity had grew to an extent that we couldn't handle it. They've been taking money and food from us as a monthly charge for 'living in their territory'."

"But that's not all, is there?" Anko asked.

"No, we've found out that the bandits worked in an organization under one man. A mob boss named Gato." It was as if speaking the name left a bad taste in Kaiza's mouth. He shook his head and gritted his teeth angrily. "At first, he showed up one day asking my friend Tazuna to hand over his role as mayor of the village and in return, he'd give us protection against enemy raids. But when Tazuna turned down his offer, Gato ran off and we've never had to see him again. Until a few weeks ago. When he realized we were barely making due with the drastic decrease in our village resources, he showed up again to take the role as mayor. He thinks that he can control Wave and make it his own village, cutting into our funds and resources. At first everybody was against Gato's rule, but after witnessing the strength of Gato's army, they refused to do anything that would end in destruction of our village."

"How long has this been going on?" Katsu asked.

"3 months now."

"3 months!?" Tomū exclaimed in shock. "Why didn't you just ask for help before instead of waiting now!?"

"Because Gato set up his men around the village, keeping track of anything that goes in and out. It took me a while, but I finally managed to escape and ask for help." Kaiza admitted before sighing. "But it was at the cost of a friend's life. I had a friend act as a spy in Gato's forces and we used that for me to slip by Gato's surveillance. But not long after, the bandits had learned of my friend and imprisoned her. Knowing what Gato does to prisoners, he'd mostly likely had her killed. Or..."

"Or?" Tomū was almost afraid to ask.

Anko's cold voice rung out as she cracked her knuckles. "You already know the answer to that, Gaki."

Tomū looked at his sensei in confusion before it finally clicked. His eyes widened in realization before he turned back to Kaiza with a disgusted face. Said man gave a nod in return, confirming his fears. "Gato allows his men to have 'fun' with the females of my village. He's made examples of disobedience by taking women and letting bandits rape them until they're no longer... useful. We've found most of the bodies to properly bury them, but still..."

"That's disgusting." Akiko sneered, her anger growing at the thought of such acts. "When I get my hands on him, I swear-" The kunoichi paused mid-sentence when she heard a whistling noise.

Their leader wasted no time. "Get down!" Anko shouted, pulling Kaiza to the floor. Akiko quickly listened to her sensei's command and grabbed her teammate's collars, causing all three to drop to the floor, just as a large blade of wind soared over their heads. Tomū's eyes caught the ripple in the air as it flew by, looking back and witnessing the attack slice clean through a tree trunk.

His eyes widened when the wind continued to rip through several more trees behind it before finally stopped halfway through the 6th tree trunk.

"Whoa..." Tomū whispered in awe before he heard a clapping sound.

Once everyone got up, Anko didn't hesitate to put on a serious expression and pull out a kunai when she spotted two figures standing in front of them. Not missing a beat, her eyes scanned over the newcomers.

Anko quickly deduced that the one on the right was a male due to his tall and slender figure. Seeing a long, thin sword hefted over his shoulder, Anko narrowed her eyes at the man. "You must be the one who sent that attack."

The man didn't say anything and Anko couldn't make out his facial expressions due to the blank white mask. She couldn't even see his eyes through the thin slits cut into the mask.

The masked swordsman wore a fishnet shirt covered by a formal black kimono with white material lining his collar, wrists, and waistband. On his left arm was a headband from Kumogakure with a slash mark through the symbol. He also wore the traditional geta (Wooden Sandals). His black hair was kept in a long ponytail, the rest hanging down a few inches below his shoulders.

With the exception of thin hairs hanging over his mask/forehead.

And strapped on his right hip was a black sword sheathe, one with red colored kanji symbols trailing down to the tip.

'_To live, one must overcome all obstacles..._' The words echoed in Anko's head.

On the left, Anko took notice that the person clapping was a female. A female who's face was also covered by a mask. But instead of it being blank white, it was had black and blue markings; the black markings were at the top of the mask, 4 squiggle marks that make the Kiri emblem. The blue markings had one going down from the top right and 3 going up from the bottom left. She had several strands of blonde hair strung over her mask and a large bun was tied behind her head. There were also two braided 'ropes' of hair that hung down both sides of her face, just above her shoulders.

She wore the standard Kiri ANBU attire; a dark grey long-sleeve shirt covered by violet colored chest armor, matching dark grey pants, blue heeled sandals and black finger-less gloves.

"Ooh, looks like I can have some fun!" The female nin said with a bubbly giggle behind the mask. She turned to her companion and waved a hand. "Don't you think, Swordsman-kun?"

The swordsman didn't say anything, but continued to gaze at the group in front of them.

"Who are you?" Anko demanded with a warning tone.

"Call me Etsuko," The blonde informed, almost too happily before she gestured to the silent swordsman on her right. "And this guy here, is Swordsman-kun! Say hello, Swordsman-kun!"

Once again, the swordsman didn't say anything.

"Wait a minute," Tomū muttered to himself. His eyes moved from the slashed Kumo headband to the sword and finally stopped on the blank mask. Anko spared a quick glance at her student. "Gaki?" Sweat began to form on Tomū's forehead as he continued to stare into the thin eye-holes of the mask. Tomū took a shaky step back and nervously gripped one of his swords. "Sensei, I've heard about this man before..."

Etsuko tilted her head. "Oh, you know Swordsman-kun? Aw, you're lucky! He's never spoken a word to me!" She whined.

"This man..." Tomū gulped. Just staring at his enemy made his blood run cold. "he's known as the Faceless Samurai, a Nuke-Nin from Kumogakure." At any other time, Tomū would've proudly boasted about his knowledge about well-known swordsmen across the nations. Being a swordsman himself, he wanted to know as much about the skills of those both famous and infamous. But at this moment, Tomū honestly regretted searching up any sort of information about this particular ex-Kumo nin.

_'The Faceless Samurai, known for his ruthlessness in battle and no mercy for his victims_.' Tomū thought, reciting the words he read from a book from the Konoha library. _'Most noticeable trait is his ability to cut off one's head, killing them before they even realize it._'

"The Faceless Samurai?" It seemed Anko had heard about the man. The purple haired Jonin began to eye the swordsman warily. In her days as a Jonin, she's encountered many enemies that proved themselves a challenge. But upon coming across his file in the Bingo Book, Anko felt a bit uneasy by being in the man's presence. There was no name listed or any general information about his identity, only information about his mysterious affiliation to Kumo and his kenjutsu skills.

She could practically feel the ominous aura slowly radiating from him, growing and expanding around the group. And she could've sworn there was a blackish aura flowing around the samurai...

Anko had also heard of a rumor regarding the samurai.

The rumor that says whoever the swordsman kills, the victim's blood and soul get absorbed into his blade, making him stronger and more bloodthirsty.

Of course she wouldn't fall victim to stupid rumors from scared idiots. But having read over each of the events by the samurai himself, she slowly found herself succumbing to the nationwide rumors. Especially when each of the samurai's actions had one noticeable trait.

Each of his victims had been dealt with by dismemberment.

Precise, _detailed_ dismemberment.

While Anko was one for a good torture session with an enemy, even she knew the risk that grew the longer the samurai remained in front of her and her team.

Gripping her kunai tightly, Anko followed Tomū's actions and took a step back. _'I expected a few strong bandits here and there, not a Hunter-Nin and a mass murdering samurai!_' She looked back to Kaiza and saw that the man was trying his best to calm his unnerving anxiety. But it wasn't just him that she was worried about. Looking at her team, Anko could easily sense the fear rolling off each of her students.

Tomū had both hands gripping the handles of his swords with gritted teeth. He remained stock-still where he stood, fearing the consequences of moving.

Akiko had already brought out two of her kunai and had a look of uncertainty on her face, but her body was prepared to fight nonetheless.

Katsu seemed to be the only one who looked remotely calm, choosing to step into his family's traditional Jyūken stance. But Anko could see his eyes constantly twitched and the sweat rolling down his face.

_'Dammit, this is too much._' Anko inwardly cursed. '_Even _I_ don't stand a chance against two S-Ranked enemies!_'

"You know, while I love a good battle every now and then, we do have a mission to complete." Etsuko declared, moving her right hand behind her head. By her tone, everyone could practically feel the grin on the kunoichi's face build behind the mask. "I'm in a good mood, so give us Kaiza and we'll let you live." Just her words sent chills down the Genins' spines, but they didn't dare move.

Anko forced a snort and smirked at the kunoichi, bringing her kunai higher in a show of battle-ready defiance. "No can do, girly. Our mission is to protect Kaiza-kun and his village."

"Hm, too bad. For you anyway." Etsuko pulled her hand from her back, revealing one long handle. The type that looked like it belonged to a sword.

Anko arched a brow when chakra began to glow around the handle before Etsuko's arm snapped down. One long, translucent whip grew from the handle and smacked against the ground, creating cracks. "Is that water?" Anko questioned, seeing the whip-like weapon wriggled slowly against the ground.

**_Clang!_**

Before Anko had realized what happened, she had unconsciously brought her kunai to block a long, slender blade that inched closer to her face. "You should pay attention. Unless you want to die." A smooth, deep voice came from behind the mask, making Anko feel a shiver run down her spine. She quietly blessed the gods for her quick reflexes, but even so; she hadn't even seen him move!

"Aw, how come you get the Jonin?" Etsuko whined, stomping her foot childishly. She crossed her arms and huffed. Then randomly, her head perked up and looked at the samurai in surprise. "Wait, you just talked! You barely talk!"

The samurai shook his head as he pushed forward, forcing Anko to take a few steps back. His voice turned hard and demanding, but he didn't take his attention off the female Jonin. "Stop fooling around and eliminate the target already." He advised coolly, pulling back and swinging his sword down once more.

"Ugh, fine." Etsuko scoffed before she charged towards the group.

"Akiko, protect Kaiza! Tomū, Katsu, keep the bitch away from the client!" Anko ordered her students, deflecting the sword with her kunai and cursed upon seeing the blonde haired kunoichi go into battle mode. It made her a bit nervous to see a Hunter-Nin race towards her team, but being pulled into an unfair situation, she was forced into a battle with the samurai.

If she wanted to help her team, she'd have to wrap this up before things started to go downhill.

Something that seemed highly unlikely.

"Water Style: Water Whiplash Jutsu!" Etsuko called out just as the long whip in her hand began to shake violently to the point where it was having spasms of its own accord. The blonde Kiri kunoichi gave a deranged giggle as she made a move towards Kaiza, bring up her right arm and sending her whip flying towards him like a snake.

Kaiza's eyes widened and his arms raised to protect himself just as Akiko moved to block with her dual kunai, only for the water whip to be sliced into several pieces. Behind her mask, Etsuko's crimson eyes lit up when she saw the sliced pieces of her whip fall to the ground and dissolve into regular water. Looking back up, she saw a serious and confident face from Tomū as the teen held his dual swords in a stance.

Next to him, Katsu had his Byakugan activated and his hands were vibrating with chakra.

"Maybe this will be interesting after all," Etsuko cooed playfully, raising up her whip again.

* * *

**King of Swag: And there we go for another chapter! But I think it'll be best for most of us to keep this chapters a bit shorter to make it easier on myself.**

**Cheshire-Cat-Chan: Yeah I agree with that. **

**Spider-mantheraper: I honestly don't give a damn. **

**King of Swag: So let's just leave it here and await the next chapter!**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

**(**_PS-I would also appreciate any type of fanart dedicated to this story XD If someone has made or found any artwork, please PM me and I will link it up on my page for everyone to see! Thank you for your time!_**)**


	8. Struck Down and Helpless!

**Yo! Life is really a bitch, but I'm dealing with it. Things will be changed. Things like my other two partners won't be commenting anymore, no biggie. And I've finally came out with a plotline for this story as well! Hopefully I can type it out how I expect it to go... Anyhow, let's get down to business! What happened last time!?**

**1.) Opened up the chapter with Team 1's annual mission: Catching the Daimyo's Wife's Cat!**

**2.) Tomu's love for animals clashed with Katsu's hatred for the 'furry devil'!**

**3.) Tomu challenged the Daimyo's Wife to let Yuki, the cat, pick her owner!**

**4.) Winner: Shokku Tomu!**

**5.) Team 1 has been assigned to a new mission: Escort Kaiza safely back to Wave Country!**

**All caught up? Good! **

**Also I will be posting reviews or private messages that involve questions to the story that others might think about as well! I'll post up to 5 question reviews/private messages! And I still need ideas people! Fillers in case I feel like I'm rushing some of the plot.**

"Hello, what's good bitch?"~Character talking

'_Damn, she got a fine ass!'~Character thinking_

**"I'll blow you to smithereens!"~Bijuu/Boss talking**

**'_Wow, he really is an idiot...'~_Bijuu/Boss thinking**

**(**_PS-I would also appreciate any type of fanart dedicated to this story XD If someone has made or found any artwork, please PM me and I will link it up on my page for everyone to see! Thank you for your time!_**)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, just my OC.**

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**Chapter 8: Struck Down and Helpless!**

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"Hahaha! More, more! C'mon, dance for me!"

If it wasn't the sheer danger of having a whip lashing out rapidly from nearly all angles that caused him to feel nervous, then it was the sadistic giggling originating from behind Etsuko's mask. But no matter what, Tomū forced back the screaming thoughts in his head that told him to run for the hills. His pride and determination wouldn't let him.

But that didn't stop his heart from pounding like a rampaging bull.

Tomū grunted as he did a back-flip just as a whip made of water smacked the ground he recently stood on, sending chunks of earth into the air. It didn't take long for the whip to resume movements, pulling itself back out of the ground and shooting back into the air like a sentient creature, straight for Tomū.

The black haired teen quickly dove to the side as the whip surged forward, nearly impaling him through the abdomen.

He heard a cry of alarm and out of the corner of his eye, saw the whip flying towards Akiko and Kaiza.

Tomū immediately kicked off with his feet and slashed at the whip until chunks of water fell to the ground in mini puddles. The liquid weapon wriggled as it curled back towards Etsuko, who was still standing in the same spot as before. Just like his earlier attempts, Tomū cursed as the whip began to rejuvenate itself and regrow back to its lengthy form. "This shit is getting real annoying..." He growled to himself before raising his swords and racing towards the blonde lady.

"Ooh, someone's feeling brave~" Etsuko sang as she readied her whip once more.

"Katsu!" Tomū suddenly called out.

The Kiri-nin looked up to see the Hyūga jump over Tomū with his palms pulled back before he thrust forward, sending a small burst of chakra infused air. Etsuko wasted no time using her whip to block the attack, seeing water break apart from the force, but she didn't let that distract her from the fight. She watched as Katsu ducked in front of her, dodging one of her roundhouse kicks.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a shimmer of light and looked up to see Tomū leaping over Katsu this time, but instead of backing up, she did another spin as Tomū readied himself to slash at her.

The black haired teen noticed another leg coming at him and quickly raised his arms in front of him, taking the brunt of the attack as he was kicked away towards a tree. Feeling the side of his ribcage smack against the trunk, Tomū fell down to the dirt with a pained groan, swords fallen out of his grip.

However, Etsuko didn't pause in the slightest. Right after she kicked Tomū away, she spun on her heels with a quick, even pace as her whip handle latched onto her back. It didn't even take a second before her hands were brought up to block a flurry of strikes from the Hyūga in front of her.

But that didn't stop Katsu. Even facing against a Jonin, hell maybe even ANBU level, Katsu was still the quickest heavy hitter in their team. His Byakugan flared as he saw a pattern in Etsuko's arm movements. As soon as he caught onto the next wave of defense, Katsu feigned a finger strike towards Etsuko's neck. The attack caused a hand to fly up for a block, but as soon as the hand was in place, Katsu's left hand latched onto her wrist and pulled her closer.

Caught off guard, Etsuko was unable to react fast enough when her chest came in contact with his shoulders while Katsu's right hand, charged with chakra, reeled itself back. "Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm!" Katsu's hand launched forward and stopped just an inch from Etsuko's stomach. The attack was already underway.

The second the Kiri-nin felt the hum of Katsu's chakra near her stomach, a force blew up between them and actually managed to send her skidding back.

Coughing was heard behind her mask as her feet forced herself into a stop. "Wow, shouldn't have underestimated ya kid. Especially since I'm up against a Hyūga." Etsuko joked as she rubbed away the sore pains within her stomach. In all honesty, she was completely caught off guard. The force of chakra infused air was strong enough to be felt from the inside-out. It was a wonder how there was no obvious signs of puncture wounds or blood beneath her clothing, but Etsuko was pretty sure she'd need a little check-up when the fight was over. "Hell, I think you even managed to break a bone."

"Just wait, I'll break more than bones." Katsu said, returning to his formal Gentle Fist stance, the veins on the side of his face throbbed.

"Ooh, sounds fun." Etsuko's hand was pulled away from her stomach. "Too bad we're on a time schedule." Katsu's eyes narrowed in caution as Etsuko's hands began to go through a series of hand-signs.

On the sidelines, Tomū had managed to get over the throbbing pain in his sides and stood back up on his feet. His swords were clenched in his hands as he took Etsuko into his sight. However, just as he was about to kick off into a charge, he saw Etsuko finish on a final hand-sign.

"Water Style:," Etsuko's voice echoed as everyone felt her chakra expand throughout the area. "Hidden in the Mist Technique!"

Because of her attention being solely on the swordsman in front of her, Anko faltered in her footing as soon as a thick cloud of fog enveloped everyone. And such a mistake would've gotten her head chopped off if it weren't for her kunai being brought up in her defense at the last second.

"Shit!" Anko cursed as her vision worsened, leaving her opponent as the only thing she could remotely see.

"..." The samurai said nothing as he charged forward, his sword taking another swing down on her head.

Sucking her teeth, Anko brought out another kunai and used both weapons to block the incoming blade just mere inches from her nose. And without missing the small opening the samurai made for her, Anko launched her right foot forward towards the samurai's stomach.

She felt her sandal impact with something, but it wasn't his stomach. In fact, the swordsman had brought up his leg to block.

It was a matter of footwork from that point on. The second Anko had realized her assault didn't reach its mark, she noticed the samurai take a quick spin around with his sword.

Noticing the incoming blade, Anko performed a back-flip just as the point of the sword snipped off some of her bangs.

Blinking at the falling strands of purple, Anko had momentarily paused to watch her hair hit the ground, disappearing into the mist. "Oooh hell no." Then, with an aggravated smirk, she glared at her enemy and raised her kunai threateningly. "You're gonna regret that." She bit out with a tiny growl. "Let's see how you like getting something precious snipped off!" She charged at him with a maniacal spark in her eyes.

The samurai only remained in a defensive stance, not saying a single word.

While the two adults engaged in another clash of metal, Anko couldn't rid herself of the worrying thoughts involving her students. If she could leave and assist them, she would. Finding it pointless to continue thinking about it, Anko squelched her irritation and mentally prayed for their safety before ducking another swing of the samurai's blade.

However if she could see their current situation, she'd need more than prayers.

Tomū let out a pained wheeze as the pebbles flew around him, cracks building up beneath his body. The swordsman had the least amount of luck being stuck within Etsuko's mist technique. His teammates were actually faring off better than him. Katsu had his Byakugan to even see the form of chakra moving around, Akiko also had her highest sense of chakra detection to aid her. It may have not been much in a chakra filled mist, but she could remotely sense the focused source moving towards her and Kaiza.

While they had their own abilities to help them defend themselves and Kaiza, Tomū's vision had been blurred and thus left him vulnerable long enough for Etsuko's whip to snare him.

She had used his disadvantage to catch him off guard and deemed it necessary to swing him around into numerous objects.

Left and right, tree against tree, up and finally down to the ground, Tomū had felt his body ache from the throbbing pain she inflicted on him.

His eyes clenched in preparation when he felt the whip tighten and start to pull him along the ground.

"Vacuum Palm!" Tomū heard. His eyes snapped open just in time to see the whip get blown to pieces, quickly soaking into the ground. The rest had dissolved and soaked his clothes. "Get your worthless ass up already!" Katsu barked, his hand reaching down and yanking his teammate by the back of his collar, bringing him back to his feet.

"Easy for you to say!" Tomū snapped back. He winced from the fresh bruises. "You weren't the one tossed around like a rag-doll!"

"Stop being a cunt and focus on staying alive, would ya?" Katsu's Byakugan was fully active on high alert. His nearly non-existent pupils were darting all around in search of their opponent.

"Tch, not like I have a choice." Tomū muttered, his eyes looking around for any sign of movement. His voice lowered. "You know where my swords are? I kind of lost them when that bitch kept flinging me around."

"Hold on, lemme see..."

"_You boys shouldn't take your eyes off a lady!_" A voice echoed.

Before Katsu could even see a shape resembling Tomū's swords, a blur appeared in the mist before them. Next thing the two knew, Katsu had a knee driven directly into his nose and Tomū felt himself get kicked off to the left. As soon as the teen swordsman disappeared into the mist, there was a 'Found them!' heard in the distance.

"Shit!" Katsu cursed. For a split second, he had seen Etsuko come into clear view before her leg smashed his face in. His reaction time was too slow and he didn't even see her pause. He could only presume that she took off for the client. "Akiko, watch out!" He warned with a hand rubbing his twisted nose.

The last member of Team 1 steeled her face as she felt the chakra signature drawing near. It wasn't long before Akiko saw the same blur show up in the mist. She had raised two kunai before her in a defense as Kaiza took a worried step back.

Just as Etsuko's body had leapt out of the mist, Akiko had already readied herself for her assault. The Kiri-nin had a grin hidden behind her mask as her hand lurched forward, a reformed water whip lashing out towards the Genin. The whip had been too fast for Akiko, ending up with it wrapping around her arms and torso just like Tomū. She felt her balance shift and was swung out of Etsuko's way, crashing into a tree and leaving Kaiza wide open.

"Too slow." Etsuko whispered as she pulled out a kunai with her free hand.

She wasted no time in driving the kunai between Kaiza's eyes, making sure the hilt of her weapon was buried into his skull.

The man sputtered as his body went rigid. But Etsuko didn't react in her usual cheery manner. In fact, something felt off... An entertained smile formed behind her mask. "I have to hand it to ya. Nice job setting up that genjutsu last second." She didn't even form a single hand-sign. With a quick flare of the tiniest bit of her chakra, the world around her began to wriggle into distortion.

Kaiza's corpse soon faded away into the mist, including the blood that soaked her kunai and hand.

The Kiri-nin let out a short sigh as she remained standing as if it were no big deal. Due to the lack of focus, albeit being a split second, her whip broke off the handle and fell to the ground, useless. "It's a little embarrassing for a jonin like myself to get caught up in a weak genjutsu," Etsuko blatantly shrugged her shoulders. "I shouldn't have gotten so excited over a petty fight like this. Oh well."

"It worked didn't it!" Akiko's voice boasted.

"Now see," Etsuko felt 3 chakra signatures rush all around her. "that's where you're wrong, little girl."

Tomū let out a battle cry as he appeared behind her, both of his swords slicing through the air in a vertical strike.

"Just because you managed to trip me up," Etsuko began.

From the right side, Akiko was the second to slip through the mist's veil with her dual kunai aimed downwards at the blonde.

"Doesn't mean," Her smile turned into one of psychotic glee.

From the left, Katsu dashed forward with his Byakugan blaring, fingers poised to strike the woman's chakra points.

"You've won the fight!"

The blonde kunoichi sped through a series of hand signs. In mid-air, Akiko heard a voice in her head screaming of imminent danger almost as soon as she felt Etsuko's chakra fluctuate. "Water Style:.." The female genin mentally cursed their luck. Without anything solid to kick off of, evading any sort of attack would be near impossible in such close quarters. And so, as the three neared the Kiri-nin, only Katsu and Akiko were the only ones who saw one of Etsuko's hands take her mask off, just enough to reveal her crimson lips. Her chest expanded outwards before her head lurched forward. "Miniature Water Colliding Waves!"

A large amount of water soon spewed out of Etsuko's mouth and as soon as the water hit the ground, it swirled around her feet in a circle before exploding outwards.

One by one, nearly simultaneously, each of the genin felt a heavy pressure crash into their bodies. Tomū, Akiko, and Katsu each exclaimed from the impact and would've screamed if it weren't for Etsuko's next technique. "... Water Prison Jutsu!"

The water had engulfed their bodies and closed up in a floating bubble-like trap, restricting Team 1's movements and oxygen in one swoop.

"D-Dammit!" Tomū gurgled, immediately closing his mouth to prevent even more water from invading his throat. '_If I was just_ one_ second faster, I could've slashed off one of her arms!_' He could feel the water's pressure weigh down on his entire body, especially his chest. Tomū's eyes looked away from his captor and focused on his teammates.

Katsu, albeit covered in bruises, looked surprisingly composed and didn't seem to be struggling for air. At least not yet.

Akiko on the other hand...

His heartrate had begun to speed up as he watched his teammate clutch at her own throat, bubbles exploding from her mouth. She was losing air, fast. And there was nothing he could do about it. Tomū bit on the insides of his cheeks, glaring holes into the person responsible.

Etsuko had already wiped the extra water from her chin and as she turned around, Tomū saw her mocking grin just before her mask was placed back over her face.

They were at _her_ mercy now...

"You know," Etsuko giggled to herself, tapping the side of her cheek and looking around to admire her work. "As much as I would _love_ to watch you struggle for air, Swordsman-kun would yell at me if I don't complete the mission." With a single hand-sign, Etsuko dispelled the endless fog surrounding the area. Hearing the sound of metal scraping against metal, Etsuko turned to check on her teammate. "And would you look at that, seems like Swordsman-kun is having fun."

As much as he didn't want to, Tomū had reluctantly craned his neck to check on his mentor's condition. He regretted it immediately.

Anko, with several spots of her clothing cut up, was bleeding from several places as she continued fighting for her own life. Her chest was heaving and sweat was clinging to her skin. She was getting tired.

Behind him, Etsuko performed another set of hand-signs and a ripple formed on Katsu's bubble. An efficient chunk of Katsu's prison soon broke off to become a living clone of the blonde kunoichi.

"Now, where's that Kaiza-person...?" The swordsman didn't even spare a glance towards the blonde assassin as her clone began to search the area. He couldn't after falling witness to a literal game-changer.

She staggered in her footing.

It was a _single _misplaced step that caused his sensei to lose.

As soon as the masked samurai caught onto Anko's mistake, he quickly sent a horizontal slash towards the purple haired jonin. She made another attempt to back away. It almost seemed like she had evaded the attack, but as soon as the samurai calmly slid his sword back into its sheath, Anko fell to her knees and clutched at her now bleeding stomach. A non-lethal, but serious enough, gash had formed through her mesh shirt and began to spill blood.

"It's over." The samurai's cool voice declared.

Anko choked on her own blood before falling forward.

"Found 'im!" The Hyūga of the team had begun to lose his breath, his face slowly turning red. Katsu had his Byakugan deactivated, acknowledging that his eyes were uselessly burning away his chakra. But as Tomū watched their sensei stop twitching on the ground, he had spotted Etsuko's clone dragging a panicking Kaiza out from a tree a few meters away. The man was struggling to escape from the clone's grip, but he soon went still as a board when the clone pressed a kunai against his neck.

_"Now_ it's mission completed." Etsuko announced.

Katsu silently watched their situation come to a close.

Their client's life was in the enemy's hands.

Two of his teammates were stuck in a bubble like him.

His sensei was dead on the floor.

They lost.

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**How was that chapter everyone!? Good? Bad? Please give me some feedback! I'm working _real_ hard on this damn story along with my other fanfictions! Lay down some law and tell me what I'm missing, what I'm lacking in finesse XD I'll try to update as soon as I can, but until then, you guys hold on. Life's still a bitch no matter what I try to do.**

**Until next time! Peace!**

**(**_PS-I would also appreciate any type of fanart dedicated to this story XD If someone has made or found any artwork, please PM me and I will link it up on my page for everyone to see! Thank you for your time!_**)**

**REVIEW!**


	9. Push Forward!

**Hey guys, what's going on? I'm back again with another chapter. Felt pretty bad with leaving you guys on such a cliffhanger last time! XD Anyway, let's get this show on the road, shall we? What happened last time!? **

**1.) Etsuko had begun her game with Team 1!**

**2.) Anko struggles against the Faceless Samurai!**

**3.) Etsuko captures Tomū, Akiko, and Katsu into bubbles before advancing on Kaiza!**

**4.) Anko is left bleeding out on the ground!**

**What's going to happen next? FIND OUT DAMMIT!**

**I will be posting reviews or private messages that involve questions to the story that others might think about as well! I'll post up to 5 question reviews/private messages! And I still need ideas people! Fillers in case I feel like I'm rushing some of the plot.**

"Hello, what's good bitch?"~Character talking

'_Damn, she got a fine ass!'~Character thinking_

**"I'll blow you to smithereens!"~Bijuu/Boss talking**

**'_Wow, he really is an idiot...'~_Bijuu/Boss thinking**

**(**_PS-I would also appreciate any type of fanart dedicated to this story XD If someone has made or found any artwork, please PM me and I will link it up on my page for everyone to see! Thank you for your time!_**)**

**Disclaimer****: I don't own Naruto. Just my OC!**

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**Chapter 9: Push Forward!**

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"P-Please don't!" Kaiza whimpered as Etsuko's water clone pressed the kunai closer. The second he gulped, he could feel a thin cut open on his skin from the sharp metal. The sweat on his face continued to pour down when he heard the taunting giggle from the blonde assassin. "Think w-we can work out a d-d-deal...?"

"Sorry, hon'. "Business is business." Etsuko's clone knelt down and seductively cooed into his ear. "Although, I'm sure I'd _love_ to hear you scream my name if this was a different scenario..." As kinky as her words sounded, the man couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by them. Something was clearly off when the assassin said the word 'scream'.

"Hey, Swordsman-kun!" The real Etsuko called out, seeing said swordsman sheathe his blade. "Just wanted to make sure. Were we to kill Kaiza on sight or bring him to Gato?"

"Bring him to the base." The samurai reminded with a sharp tone. "We're supposed to wait until Gato returns from his business trip to hand Kaiza over to him."

"Oh, right!" As soon as the samurai finished speaking, the clone giggled again. "You hear that, hon'? We get to spend more time together! Doesn't that sound fun?"

"Oh Kami no..." The client whispered, feeling his blood run cold.

All the while, Katsu was starting to feel lightheaded as his lungs strained themselves. In his prison, there wasn't much he could do. And it didn't look like Tomū was fairing any better. Shooting his teammate a quick look, he could see the black haired teen still staring at Anko's body with wide eyes. Almost as if he was pleading her to get back up and fight. "Oho~" He heard Etsuko sing to herself. "Looks like we got two down now!"

Dread filling his gut, Katsu's head whipped towards their final teammate.

Akiko had her eyes closed. She wasn't moving.

'_Shit! Shit! Shit!_' The Hyūga thought in a panic. Using his Byakugan, he was quick to see if she was still alive. He would've sighed in relief when he saw her heart still beating. Even if it was weak. But her chakra network, fading in and out in terms of brightness, showed signs of unconsciousness. What to do? What to do!? His brain began racing through possibilities of escape-

There was that _one_ thing he had left.

He inwardly cursed. But in doing so, it would temporarily throw his chakra control into a frenzy. Unfortunately, as fate forced his hand, he was left with 2 choices.

Die in a damn bubble or free himself and try to fight.

If he chose the latter, he'd only have a second to act out. Once he was free, who would he go to? Tomū? Sure, they could work well together, but against two highly skilled fighters was asking for a solid death wish. Akiko? If he left her alone, she could possibly drown. But that only left Anko, who was... Katsu shut off his Byakugan and began to mold his chakra. '_Fuck it! I only have one chance at this..._' He thought as he made a single hand-sign, eyes closed in concentration.

"Let's just hurry up and get back." The samurai demanded. He had already spun on his heels by the time Etsuko sighed in disappointment, knocked Kaiza out with a chop to his neck, dispelling her clone and haul his body over her shoulder.

Then there was the sound of shuffling rocks.

The samurai paused. Etsuko had blinked behind her mask. Both of them had eyes on the now moving Anko, who was looking up at the samurai with a bloody grin.

"Heh, looks like you've seen a ghost." The jonin joked as she pushed herself up.

The samurai turned and faced Anko with his full attention, his thumb pressing his sword out of the sheath. "Hm, it seems I've underestimated your will to live." As soon as Anko got to her feet, she winced before falling to a single knee. "However, it's meaningless to continue fighting. Give up or I will cut you down."

"S-Sorry, but I can't do that." Anko shot back hotly. "Got a job and a few brats to look after."

"Ooh, feisty! I like her!" Etsuko laughed as she walked by Tomū's bubble. The teen swordsman, upon seeing his mentor rising back up, returned to his senses and glared daggers at the blonde. Then he saw Katsu behind her, a face of concentration as he remained still. Tomū's eyes widened when he realized what was going to happen. He just needed to wait...

"Very well then." The samurai said, voice as cold as ice. He had freed his sword once more and placed both hands on the sword's handle. Anko watched as the blade rose into the air. "Farewell."

'_Come on, Katsu...'_ Tomū thought impatiently. The lack of air was making his head feel light. '_If you're going to do it, do it NOW please!_'

As if his pleas were heard by his teammate, everyone felt a sudden rush of chakra as Katsu's bubble exploded outwards. "This is a surprise." Etsuko commented as she saw the Hyūga drop to his feet and whip out a kunai, immediately tossing it at Etsuko. As if it were no problem at all, the woman simply took a step to the back and watched the weapon harmlessly zoom by her.

Only then did she notice the burning exploding tag wrapped around the handle.

Instead of exploding right in front of her like she expected, the kunai continued its journey past her and soon pierced Tomū's water prison. The tag had went off befor the water could soak the paper. Another one of her prisons had exploded and another member of Team 1 dropped to the ground, this time with swords at his disposal. Tomū's eyes were sharp and focused only on the blonde assassin before him, leaving everything else to the rest of his team.

He had lunged at her, momentarily taking her focus for a moment as Katsu raced behind her. While the Kiri-nin dealt with the relentless slashes of Tomū's dual swords, the young swordsman had given his teammate a small gap of chance. Using the adrenaline that pumped through his veins, the Hyūga had jumped and dove through Etsuko's last water prison with enough force to tackle the unconscious girl out of the water.

After a couple rolls across the ground, Katsu didn't hesitate to scoop his teammate into his arms and retreat into the forest. '_Gotta hide out until my chakra is stable again,_' He thought with gritted teeth. His innards felt like they were on fire! As helpful as it was to burst his chakra out of every single pore on his body, it left him completely vulnerable during the aftereffects. "Tch, I'll leave it up to Tomū and Anko-sensei for now."

As he dashed through the trees, he looked down when he heard coughing.

Akiko, with a red face, was trying to catch even the smallest amount of air she could. However she began to cough out the water that flooded her insides.

Katsu sucked his teeth.

Three.

Three minutes is all he needs!

On a side note, during all of the chaos with the genins' escape, the samurai had not taken his eyes off of the purple haired woman kneeling before him. But he did pay attention nonetheless. "Seems one of your students was smart enough to retreat."

"Unlike the rest of his clansmen, he doesn't have a pole riding up their asses." Anko snickered. Her eyes twinkled with mischievous intent. "He actually gives a damn about lives. Too bad you can't say the same, can ya?"

"Shame that your idiocy decided your fate today." He had brought his sword down for the finishing blow.

At the last second, the samurai felt that something was off and his suspicions were confirmed when he felt his blade connect with Anko's forehead. Like he had planned, his sword had sliced straight down Anko's head as if she weren't even there. A thin line had appeared on her face, neck, down her clothes as the two halves of her body split off from each other.

And soon melted into a pile of mud.

"Hidden Technique: Shadow Snake Hands!" A voice rung from the samurai's right. His reaction was swift as he spun on his heels, slicing the head off of two large snakes that stretched from a bush. However the rest, four others, had lunged straight at him and wrapped their bodies around his arms, torso and lastly, his neck. As the man silently struggled to free himself, the last snake that wrapped itself around his throat had bared its fangs and bit down on the samurai's neck.

The samurai soon grew stiff as Anko herself walked out of the bushes, the ends of the snakes remained hidden in the sleeve of her trench-coat. She smirked.

"Don't bother trying to fight it. That snake hit you with enough venom to make you drop dead in a minute." The jonin revealed. "You lost, samurai."

"I'll admit... falling for a substitution... was a bit foolish." The samurai struggled to speak. However, his tone led Anko to believe that there was more to it. She had lost her frown and grew serious as the man simply let his body go limp in the snakes. "But don't you think... the same could be said..." Anko's spine stiffened when she felt the tip of cold steel press lightly against the back of her neck. "For you?" The cold voice finished behind her.

'_If he's behind me, then who's-'_ The samurai entrapped by the snakes began to glow a light blue before bursting in a ball of electricity, burning the scales of the snakes who made direct contact. Sucking her teeth, Anko had quickly released the summoning jutsu that connected her to the snakes and simply watched as her summons were electrified to death.

"Lightning Clone, eh? Took a page out of my book, that's for sure." Anko whispered. Regardless of the situation, her hand began to inch towards her kunai pouch-she stopped when she felt the blade move from her neck. She darted forward and spun around with another kunai in hand, glaring at the samurai. Who had just slid his sword back into its sheath.

"There's no need for anymore bloodshed. Our task is complete." The samurai blatantly informed as he jumped up into the trees. "Let us be off, Etsuko. We're no longer needed here."

Said blonde assassin let out a disappointed whine after she kicked a bruised Tomū in the chest, launching him down the road and sending him skidding past Anko's legs. He had left himself wide open trying to form an entire sequence of hand-signs. The woman rolled her eyes behind her mask. "Fine. Fighting genin was getting boring anyway."

"H-Hey! We're not done here!" Tomū barked out, shaking as he tried to get up. "Give Kaiza back!"

Hearing the boy's call, the samurai's head turned towards him. Tomū's body went frigid as he stared into the black holes of the mask, feeling a heavy and utterly terrifying aura wash over his will. It was only in that moment that Tomū understood what death truly was.

The samurai was an embodiment of hell on earth.

His eyes were so focused on him that his mind barely acknowledged Etsuko's mocking tease as she landed on the branch next to him, Kaiza still hung over her shoulder. But he heard the samurai speak to him.

"You, boy..." The older swordsman drawled. He gazed into the teen's electric blue eyes. "What is your name?"

His lips moved all on their own. "Shokkū... T-Tomū..."

"Hey! Gaki, snap out of it!" Soon the boy was brought out of his mental prison once he felt a hand place itself on his shoulder, followed by a sharp infusion of someone else's chakra seeping into his body. His eyes rapidly blinked back into reality as he was shook back and forth. His head felt dizzy, but nonetheless tried to find the source of the chakra. "Oi! You with me!?"

Tomū blinked a few more times before he finally focused in on Anko's facial features. "Sensei...? What happened?"

"You were mumbling and drooling all over yourself, kid." Anko said, grabbing his hand and helping him up to this feet. Tomū wobbled a bit on his feet, but stabilized himself against Anko's arm. He looked back up into Anko's eyes, silently asking the question she knew was coming. The jonin shook her head. "They're already gone. Left 3 minutes ago."

"W-Well what are we waiting for?" Tomū sucked his teeth. "We need to go after 'em!"

"Are you out of your damn mind?" Anko growled. She pressed a finger, against a specific spot where a bruise was growing on his shoulder. The teen swordsman winced and took a step back. "In case you haven't noticed, we got our asses handed to us on a silver platter. We're lucky they decided to call off and let us live!" As he tried to rub the throbbing pain away, his eyes glared angrily into hers.

Of course he knew!

"What about Kaiza and his village? What, are we just gonna turn back and leave them to suffer?" Tomū shot back hotly.

Anko wanted to shout back at her student, to remind him just how close they had come to dying. But instead, she took in a deep breath and calmed her nerves. The arguing would only worsen if she responded out of anger. "Tomū, listen to me." She spoke in a calm, even tone. "I want to help them as much as the next guy, but we don't have the power to do so." The purple haired woman interrupted her student before he could respond.

"Look at me," She gestured a hand to the cuts all around her. "This was all from one person. One. He kicked my ass and I barely got a scratch on him. And what about that Hunter-nin?" The fire in Tomū's eyes seemed to dim down. "She kicked your ass, Katsu's ass, and nearly drowned Akiko. And she wasn't even trying."

Now the boy was looking at the ground, fists clenched at his sides. "But we can't just...!"

There was rustling heard in the bushes behind them, putting Tomū on guard almost immediately. While Tomū rushed to grab one of his swords, Anko hadn't even bothered to pull out a weapon. Instead she opted to look back with a side-glance. "Good timing. I really didn't want to waste any time looking for you two." She said just as Katsu slowly walked out with his Byakugan activated, checking the area for anymore possible enemies. He had Akiko resting on his back. Anko rolled her hand. "Gather your shit. We're heading back to the village."

"Nah, I'm not going." Katsu responded bluntly.

"Oh Kami." Anko face-palmed. "Gaki, we can't-"

"Don't bother, I heard everything." Katsu interrupted without missing a beat.

"Then you understand why we're leaving."

"I do. But I'm still not going with you. And it looks like Tomū isn't either." Taking a look at said swordsman, Anko saw that Katsu was right. Tomū hadn't even bothered to collect anything that he possibly dropped. All he did was stare back at his mentor with determined eyes. "I'm not dumb enough to run straight to my death, that much can be said. But I can't just go back knowing that we did nothing to even attempt rescuing our client or helping the place we're traveling to in the first place. And I'm pretty sure if Akiko was awake, she'd say the same thing."

"This is defiance, you do know that right?" Anko informed with an arched brow.

Katsu shrugged.

"Aren't shinobi meant to help and protect others, sensei?" Tomū brought up.

"Eeeh, not exactly... but-" Anko started, but stopped when she saw the narrowed eyes of Tomū and the challenging ones of Katsu.

As their leader, it was her role to put their safety before anything else. Even if it meant the suffering of countless civilian lives. She crossed her arms and glared at the two of them. "What's stopping me from knocking you two unconscious and dragging your asses back myself?"

"Nothing." Katsu answered nonchalantly. "But think of how abandoning this mission would affect us in the long run."

She could handle the chance of three angry students, but the guilt would weigh down more on them than her. A seasoned jonin is what she was, but they couldn't handle the stress of a C-Rank turned into a possible S-Rank. Or even the stress of abandoning an entire community to live in torment.

She thought about it for several moments before groaning and pinching the bridge of her nose. "... dammit, why'd you have to be such a smart-ass?" Anko growled in irritation. The Hyūga gave a snarky grin in return while Tomū's brow arched in anticipation. Anko placed her hands on her hips, a strong scowl etched over her face. "Fine, we'll continue with the mission. But as soon as things get too bloody, we're pulling out before one of us ends up dead." The jonin ran through a small sequence of hand-signs before a summoned snake poofed into existence on her shoulders.

The green and black colored python bowed its head respectively. "Anko-sama, what is it you wish?"

"Tao-san," Anko began. "Send a message back to Hokage-sama. We're stuck in enemy territory in wave and request back-up. Possibly A to S-Rank." The green python nodded before poofing away.

"Did... did you just lie to the Hokage?" Tomū asked slowly.

"Yeah." The purple haired leader sighed as she began rubbing the back of her neck. She walked over to Katsu and took Akiko off his shoulders, hefting the unconscious girl on her back. "And if he finds out I purposely risked the lives of 3 genin, one of them being a Hyūga no less, my ass would probably be demoted to chunin faster than an Akimichi can eat out a steak-house." With that, she pointing to threatening fingers to the remaining members of Team 1 and narrowed her eyes. "So if either of you little shits rat me out, I'm sticking a kunai so far up your dicks that you'll-"

"OK! We get it!" Tomū cut off before the threat got too graphic.

"Kinky." The Hyūga snorted in amusement.

"Tch, let's just hurry up and deliver the goods before the sun goes down." Anko ordered and after making sure Akiko was securely placed on her back, she jumped into the tree-tops with Tomū and Katsu following close behind.

* * *

**Ok... so this chapter may have been a little too simple, cliché if you will. But I'm working on it. I'll catch you guys later as the Pre-Wave Ark continues! Peace!**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

**(**_PS-I would also appreciate any type of fanart dedicated to this story XD If someone has made or found any artwork, please PM me and I will link it up on my page for everyone to see! Thank you for your time!_**)**


	10. Path of Determination

**Hey guys! Has it been too long since the last update? I wouldn't know because I'm the one working my ass off trying to multitask with 5+ stories and juggling life situations regarding school, family and friend bullshit. But enough whining on my part! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED LAST TIME!?**

**1.) Kaiza had been taken by Etsuko!**

**2.) Tomū, once again, got his ass kicked far and wide across the land while Katsu rescued Akiko from drowning!**

**3.) Anko had escaped death with a clone!**

**4.) The Faceless Samurai retreats back to Gato's base! But not before locking his sights on Tomū!**

**5.) The group chooses to continue the mission!**

**Caught up? Good! Let's jump in this bitch!**

"Hello, what's good bitch?"~Character talking

'_Damn, she got a fine ass!'~Character thinking_

**"I'll blow you to smithereens!"~Bijuu/Boss talking**

**'_Wow, he really is an idiot...'~_Bijuu/Boss thinking**

**(**_PS-I would also appreciate any type of fanart dedicated to this story XD If someone has made or found any artwork, please PM me and I will link it up on my page for everyone to see! Thank you for your time!_**)**

**Disclaimer****: We DO NOT own Naruto! Just our OCs :)**

* * *

**Chapter 10****: Path of Determination**

* * *

If anything, it weren't the sound of smashing plates that caused Katsu to wince in reflex.

Instead it was the swelling of his nose that continued to send throbbing pains into his nerves.

"Y-Yeah, so that's what happened." Tomū said meekly, leaning back in his chair.

The room was quiet for the most part. If you ignore the ticking of the dining room clock.

It took less than a few hours to make it to the small village, with the help of traveling through the trees instead of walking on the roads. But as soon as the team made it, they were quick to ask around for information regarding the living arrangements of a man named Tazuna, one of Kaiza's closes friends. And after receiving the needed information from wandering civilians, Anko had been first to learn where Tazuna and his family lived.

Of course by the time they made it to the house and met the dark-blue haired woman who lived there, Akiko had started to wake up.

When the lady had worried over Akiko's health, as well as the conditions of the rest of Team 1, they soon learned that the woman's name was Tsunami.

Business was first and foremost as usual as Anko first handed Tazuna, a grumpy old drunk of a man, the scroll containing all of the necessary supplies given to them for the progression of the bridge.

However, Kaiza's absence didn't go unnoticed by a young boy. Apparently the boy, Inari was his name, was the only son of Tsunami. Another close friend to Kaiza. But as soon as the boy realized that Anko's team was the selected group to protect Kaiza on his way back home, Inari had been quick to question the whereabouts of his closest friend.

Which brought everything back to the present, with Tomū finishing off the conversation.

Who, in turn, found it overwhelming to tell the family of three

The teen swordsman's eyes wandered the room; a habit he had whenever the atmosphere got too dull, tense, or awkward. He locked onto the many expressions of everyone in the room, including his own team.

Akiko was still looking a little dizzy, as well as guilty for failing to protect their client. She was looking down at the table, trying not to make eye contact with any of Tazuna's family.

Katsu remained the impassive one of the room, with the occasional wince from his bruises.

Anko had been leaning back in her chair, nonchalantly swinging one of her lengthy kunai around her finger.

Then, regrettably, Tomū found himself looking over the reactions of the occupants of the house.

Tazuna had been glaring at Anko the entire time, his nearly emptied bottle of sake held tightly in one hand.

Tsunami had already dropped several plates onto the ground, mouth agape and eyes wide.

Inari was the worse of them all. With disbelief filling his eyes, his head slowly shook to the sides as tears cascaded down his cheeks.

Tomū winced, but all the while remained silent as the information was absorbed into the family's brains.

"Just to recap," Tazuna was the first to speak out. "You mean to tell us that Kaiza, _our_ Kaiza, was kidnapped by two of Gato's goons?"

"Yup." Anko said.

"And you thought it was a good idea to come here, wasting all this time instead of using it to rescue my best friend!?" Tazuna's hand balled into a fist and slammed against the table, his eyes burning in rage. Behind him, Tsunami flinched at the loud noise and realized the mess she had made on the floor. As she leaned down to pick up the pieces, Tazuna's voice only raised higher with every passing word. "What kind of shinobi are you!? All you had to do was escort him home!"

Anko, having caught the kunai in her fingers, slammed the tip of the knife down into the table and made sure it stuck into the wood. The purple haired woman sighed as she leaned forward on one arm, pointing to the drunk with a single, bored finger. "You see this?" She gestured her hand to herself and her genin teammates. "You got yourself _one_ jonin and _three_ fucking genin."

"Inari, go upstairs please." Tsunami ordered quietly upon hearing the strong language.

As the boy quietly ran upstairs to his room, Anko didn't even bat an eyelash as she continued smoothly. "Now I don't blame you guys for the lack of money due to your bandit problem, but all you can get is us." Now, Tazuna found himself on the receiving end of a lecture as Anko pushed her seat back with her legs and stood up. Leaning forward with both hands planted firmly on the table and narrowing eyes staring holes into Tazuna's, Anko pressed on. "And to be honest, you should be glad I didn't order my team back to Konoha and leave Kaiza for dead. Especially when nobody mentioned the chance of fighting two possible S-Rank fighters!"

"I-I... I..." The drunk stuttered.

Tomū coughed into his hand to avert people's attention to him. "W-With all due respect, instead of arguing, shouldn't we start forming plans to fight back?"

"I was getting there Gaki." Anko responded with an eye-roll. "And just to be clear, you three aren't fighting."

"That's fine." Katsu grunted as he leaned back in his chair, arms folded behind his head. "I personally don't want my ass kicked anymore than it already is."

"My point exactly." Anko snapped her fingers. "Even working as a team, none of you were able to put a single scratch on that Etsuko bitch." The jonin noticed the stern, quiet glare from the blue haired mother across the room, but simply ignored her. "And seeing as how the Hokage is sending us back-up, hopefully it'll be enough so you three don't get in the way and die."

"So what are we gonna do then?" Akiko questioned.

Anko's head tilted towards Tazuna. "You three will be protecting this old fart's family." Seeing the nods of her team, Anko grunted her approval before standing straight. She looked at Tazuna. "It will be a while before back-up arrives, so in the meantime, I'm going to survey the area and make sure there's no enemies around. When I get back, I expect to hear more about this Gato person and whoever the hell is working for him."

With that, the jonin yanked her kunai out of the table. "Back in 30 minutes kiddies." She informed before exiting the room and eventually the building itself.

Nothing else was heard besides the sound of the front door slamming to a close.

"I uh... can you tell me where the bathro-" Tomū began.

Tazuna spoke, face covered with both hands. "Upstairs, down the hall, door on the left."

The blue-eyed swordsman nodded his thanks before walking up the staircase, leaving the room to themselves.

Akiko, upon seeing Tsunami struggling to gather up all the broken pieces off the floor, eventually stood up and walked over. "Here, let me help."

Lastly, while the female genin received a nod of thanks from Tsunami, Katsu just watched as Tazuna shook his head. It seems the weight of the situation was bearing down more on him than the Hyūga expected to see. He watched as the drunk groaned and pulled his hands away, grabbing the sake bottle and bringing it to his lips. Only to realize it was completely empty.

"So..." Katsu whistled.

The old man looked at the teen.

"Nice weather we're having."

"... shut the hell up."

* * *

**_5 Minutes Later..._**

He hissed as his fingertips lightly grazed the tender flesh.

"That's gonna be a bitch to deal with..." Tomū muttered his annoyance. He had pulled his gaze away from the mirror to look down at his torso. He had pulled up his shirt to view the results of the one-sided battle from earlier. To say he was disgruntled was an understatement. Bruises upon bruises took up residence along the skin of his chest and stomach, darkening spots throbbing and sending sharp pains with the slightest touch.

He sighed as he slowly lowered his fishnet shirt, grimacing as he felt the fabric run over the sensitive skin, before zipping up his jacket.

Tomū's eyes moved back up to the mirror.

He silently stared into his own blue eyes.

_You, boy... what is your name?_

The young swordsman felt a shiver run down his spine. The cold voice of the samurai was simply too daunting to forget. Having fallen victim to the presence of the killer, it had already been engraved into his brain and Tomū had no doubt that he'd remember this day for as long as he lived.

The day he had the chance to prove his worth as a true shinobi.

The day he had nearly been dropped off at death's doorstep.

A split second had passed as the image replayed in his memories. From the moments of being kicked around by Etsuko like a child to soon becoming helplessly trapped in the assassin's water prison. From watching his teammates fall prey to the assassins superior abilities to watching his own leader nearly getting cut down. From failing to protect Kaiza to experiencing the horrifying killing intent of the Faceless Samurai before he disappeared.

Tomū lurched forward over the sink, eyes closed, sweat building up on his brows and bile attempting to force its way up his throat.

'_So close..._' He had thought. He bit his lip. He didn't want to risk throwing up. '_We were_ so_ close to getting killed! We stood no chance!'_

His fingers tightened around the edges of the sink.

The teen could understand the insignificance of his powers going against a trained, seasoned killer. But he had his teammates, it was three-on-one. Surely they would've inflicted some type of harm on the older woman! But that was far from the case. It wasn't even a battle. Hell, Tomū was sure they weren't even a warm-up for the ex-Kiri kunoichi.

'_Too weak...!_' The words echoed in his head.

It was their fault Kaiza's life was in danger!

Opening his eyes, electric blue met the same as he glared into his reflection.

He had gotten a taste of the real world, another chance to make a difference.

A chance to correct his mistakes.

As little as he was, even the smallest power could turn the tide.

He just needed to improve.

* * *

**Good? Bad? Boring? Pretty sure it was boring, but not everything can be interesting! Hopefully I can continue updating things as smoothly as I've been doing lately... and if so, hopefully I'll get more and more readers to join this little group! XD Spread the love people, I need the hype! And remember, I do still need a little help creating in-between missions to keep things interesting. Or a few new OC characters to help progress the story. If you guys are feeling up to it, don't be afraid to tell me via PRIVATE MESSAGING OR REVIEWS! **

**Alright! Peace everyone!**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**

**(**_PS-I would also appreciate any type of fanart dedicated to this story XD If someone has made or found any artwork, please PM me and I will link it up on my page for everyone to see! Thank you for your time!_**)**


	11. Now We Wait

**What's up my beautiful and lovely readers! Surprised I updated so early? Well don't be, cuz now that I'm paying more attention to this fanfiction, you'll get more frequent updates! Especially since I'm excited for this arc and I really don't know why! Other than that, there's no much happening so let's just get on with the show! **

**What happened last time!? (Not much, that's for fucking sure)**

**1.) Team 1 met Tazuna, Tsunami and Inari! **

**2.) They took Kaiza's kidnapping pretty hard! (No surprise there)**

**3.) Tomū finally found his resolve!**

**Now, time for a backstory chapter! **

**In other words, GET TO READING! **

"Hello, what's good bitch?"~Character talking

'_Damn, she got a fine ass!'~Character thinking_

**"I'll blow you to smithereens!"~Bijuu/Boss talking**

**'_Wow, he really is an idiot...'~_Bijuu/Boss thinking**

**(**_PS-I would also appreciate any type of fanart dedicated to this story XD If someone has made or found any artwork, please PM me and I will link it up on my page for everyone to see! Thank you for your time!_**)**

**Disclaimer****: I do not own Naruto, just my OC.**

* * *

**Chapter 11****: Now We Wait...**

* * *

Katsu just hummed to himself as he tapped his fingers along the wooden table.

He was bored. Enough said.

Anko had been gone for 5 minutes. And in those five minutes, nothing had happened. Which was one of the only things that could frustrate the Hyūga so easily. There was practically nothing for him to do in this damn house. Tazuna had left to contact some workers in the village. Tsunami was busy cooking in the kitchen along with Akiko. Tomū was still doing who-knows-what in the bathroom upstairs.

Weren't there any board games lying around? No, of course there weren't.

He had half a mind to simply walk out the building a take a stroll around the village. But luckily he didn't.

Even if Anko hadn't said it out loud, it was pretty obvious that she'd tell them not to leave the house for any reason unless it was an emergency.

And to ignore her orders for something as petty as boredom? Katsu snorted. That's a ticket to an ass-kicking he wanted no part of.

After all, Anko didn't have much subtlety when it comes to correcting those who don't listen to her. Especially when it involved her favorited specially-made kunai.

Having thrown the idea of checking out the sights from his brain, he was back to square one; left with nothing to do.

The Hyūga groaned as his finger prodded the hole Anko made in the table. If nothing happened in the next two minutes, the teen was sure he'd start breaking something. Or at least looking around the house. Hell, if he was going to look around the house, he'd probably use his Byakugan to help. If anything, he was _this_ damn close to acting on his impulses and start peeping through Tsunami's clothes. '_Tick, tock... tick tock... tick motherfucking tock..._' He thought, following the rhythm of the clock's systematic counting of time.

His irritation steadily grew with each passing tick.

And just before he exploded, Akiko came walking into the room with a towel wiping down her hands.

'_Oh thank Kami!_' The Hyūga thought in exasperation. He was quick to speak out. "Please tell me you have something planned to keep us busy until sensei gets back."

Akiko just looked at him in the eye as she pulled out a chair and sat down. "No, nothing planned. I was helping Tsunami-san cook dinner, but she told me to relax for a while. Said I'm supposed to heal after a fight." She huffed and leaned back. Katsu let out another groan and lowered his head onto the table. Akiko's face scrunched up in annoyance as she crossed her arms. "I know you're bored and all, but that's like the 9th time I heard you moaning and groaning like a zombie in here. Stop before I slap the shit out of you."

"That'd be better than this nothing-filled hell..."

"Jeez." The kunoichi pinched the bridge of her nose. At times like this, Katsu would literally do anything if it meant something to do. No matter how annoying it was. And this was that time.

Having much experience in such a scenario, Akiko decided to ignore her teammate's whining and simply leave him to himself.

Which also meant leaving her with nothing to do.

And with nothing to do, it brought on her habit of thinking in her head to kill time.

Eventually her mind began to wander back to... Akiko felt her fingers press down on her elbows as the horrible memory came back. The rushing of water, the inability to move, the pressure it put on her body, the lack of air... It didn't take long for her to realize just how close she was to dying. Grateful as she was to Katsu for saving her before it came to that point, it still left a bad taste in her mouth. All she did was stand around with a kunai and cast a useless genjutsu.

Where were the results of the academy's education?

The tips she got from her family?

The training she received from Anko?

While her teammates had been risking their lives to simply take down a single woman, all it took was a single jutsu to incapacitate her.

... the gurgled screams she let loose as she tried to break free, to find air...

A hand touched Akiko's neck, making her flinch. It was her own hand that startled her. She let out a long breath as she tried to calm herself down.

"Hey Katsu?" She called quietly.

"What is it?"

"Do you... do you think I'm weak?"

* * *

**_Meanwhile..._**

After flushing the contents he left in the toilet, Tomū rubbed his forehead as he stepped out of the bathroom. "That took longer than I expected." Although it wasn't the trouble of simply 'going', moving with all those bruises are a pain in the ass to deal with. "Maybe Aki-chan got better at Healing Ninjutsu... hopefully." He mumbled to himself as he made his way down the hallway.

However, as he walked he unconsciously found himself looking at the pictures strung up on the walls.

Picture of Inari as a baby.

Picture of Tazuna kneeling down with a group of men wearing hardhats. Workers.

Picture of Tsunami blushing at a bouquet of roses handed to her by Kaiza.

The teen grimaced when he saw the jolly smile on their client's face. The client that got kidnapped and was quite possibly dead under Gato's command. '_Damn this guilt!_' Tomū mentally growled, feeling the stress of their mission returning nearly double that of before.

The sound of sobbing caught his ears and made him pause mid-step, just a few feet from the staircase.

'_Wait, is that...?_' Tomū thought as he stepped up to the nearest door, taking notice of the sobs getting louder. Pausing for a moment, he lifted his hand and lightly rapped his knuckles against the wood. "Inari?" The sobs almost immediately stopped when the name slipped out of Tomū's mouth. "You okay in there, bud?" He heard shuffling on the other side of the door before it creaked open, revealing a single bloodshot eye of the small boy.

"Of *Sniffle* Of course not..." He muttered.

"Hey now, there's no need to get worked up." Tomū reassured with a smile. "We'll get Kaiza back, no problem. Okay?"

"How can you be so sure?"

"Mind if I come in first? Kind of weird standing by myself in the hallway." With the smallest of nods, Inari took a step back and pulled the door with him. "Nice room you got here." The swordsman whistled as he looked around. It was almost like his. Except not as messy. Although there was a desk placed near the window, the top covered in papers with pictures drawn on them. "You draw?"

Inari sniffled again as he hopped up onto his bed. "Only when I'm bored..."

"I see." The teen nodded as he pulled out a small chair and sat down at the desk. "Now, about your question... how can I be so sure?" Tomū received a nod in return and the teen inhaled through his teeth. "Well, I can't say for sure. _But,"_ He added quickly with waving hands when he saw the tears build back up in Inari's eyes. "But... my team and I won't stop until we bring Kaiza back safe and sound."

"But how? Gato has way too many bandits working for him."

"We're ninja, Inari. And ninja will always beat bandits, hands down." Too bad the same can't be said about the hired ex-Kiri nin and masked swordsman. Tomū shook the negative thought out of his head and lightly slammed a fist down into his hand. "Numbers don't matter unless we try and gosh darn it, we're gonna try!"

"We've been trying for a long time. Tazuna-Jiji always tried to look for people to help fight back, but every time, Gato would come back with a bigger army." Inari's voice seemed to lower in volumes with each word. The boy's head looked down at his lap, his sheets gripped tightly in his fingers as his hands balled into fists. "Eventually we just gave up." He whispered. "Everyone except Kaiza."

"Kaiza _did_ leave an impression that he'd stop at nothing for a better future."

"It's just who he is." The edges of the boy's mouth curled up into the tiniest of smiles.

"You seem awfully sure of that. How long have you known Kaiza?"

"Not very long, but long enough." Inari answered honestly. "If there's anybody who'll save us, it'll be Kaiza. Just like he did with me."

"He saved you?" Tomū leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, his attention peaking. "When was this?"

"A few months ago, I was always getting bullied by kids older than me, so I never really had friends. But one day I found a dog. I named him Pochi. We became best friend." Inari snickered at the memory of the puppy yipping happily in his arms, remembering how much he'd always laugh whenever the dog licked his face. But then he took a small breath before turning his head, his eyes looking out through the window.

Tomū could see the sadness pooling up in the boy's eyes. He frowned. "I'm guessing those bullies came back?"

"Yeah. They did." Inari said in a whisper. "They took Pochi from me, calling me names and mocking me. But then they threw Pochi in the sea."

"You jumped in to save him."

Inari went to nod, but he stopped and instead shook his head. "Not exactly. I wanted to, but one of the bullies pushed me in. I tried to swim out with Pochi, but the waves were too strong for the both of us. I thought we were going to drown that day, but Kaiza showed up and pulled us out at the last second. That was the first day we met and ever since then, we were best friends."

"Gotta give the man props for risking his life like that." Tomū clapped his hands. He felt newfound respect for the man swell up in his chest. "But what happened to the bullies? Surely they got in trouble after that."

"Kaiza told me he spoke with their parents about it. The bullies got stuck with chores for 6 months." The child began to laugh. "And they got spanked in public too."

"Yeesh, sounds like something my mom would do." As much as it sounded like a joke, the teen swordsman knew for a fact that it was, without a doubt, something Yuri would do should he commit an act of utter stupidity. He let out a few nervous chuckles, hoping that day would never happen again. "Still, Kaiza sure sounds like an amazing guy."

"He's the best friend I could ever have!" The smile on Inari's face stretched as far as it could, the boy's legs kicking as one would when they're happy.

"You know what?" Tomū stood up from the chair and held out his hand, balled up into a fist. The child blinked a couple of times before he looked back up to see Tomū grinning down at him. "I'll do everything in my power to reunite the two of you. I'll slice apart anything Gato throws at us and rescue Kaiza. You got that?" With a thumbs up using the other hand, he saw Inari's eyes light up. Tomū's grin got larger when he felt a smaller hand bump fists with his.

'I'll get him back... I promise.' Tomū thought before a call was heard from downstairs.

"Tomū, get your scrawny ass down here! We got training to do!"

"Anko-san, _please!_ Language!" Tsunami's voice followed soon after.

The swordsman sweatdropped at his sensei's apparent need to act brash when in another person's home. Inari, however, found it amusing and giggled. "Your sensei sounds like a funny lady."

"Eh, she's tier 1 level crazy right now. And trust me, you do not want to see tier 5."

"Gaki, hurry up!" Anko called again.

"Hold on!" He shouted back with a tick-mark on his forehead. While Inari laughed even harder, the teen sighed and crossed his arms with a mumbled "Always rushing me cause her fat-butt can't walk up a couple of stairs."

**_*Thunk!*_**

The boys stopped when they heard "Anko-san, are you serious!? The ceiling!?" from Tsunami. They both looked down, only for the color to drain from their faces when they saw that half of Anko's favorite kunai had pierced the floor and carpet.

Right between Tomū's legs.

"Don't think I can't hear you! You're lucky I didn't put more power into it!" Both boys heard the purple haired woman shout back.

"Tier 5?" Inari gulped.

The swordsman was shaking in his boots. He let out a whimpered, "Tier 1 and a half."

* * *

**Another chapter has been uploading and filling the empty holes in your hearts! Once again, I find myself thanking those who read this story and I do promise you that action will happen soon! You'll just need to wait and be patient! Thing's will start getting interesting soon! Just stay tuned!**

**Until next time peeps! **

**Peace!**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

**(**_PS-I would also appreciate any type of fanart dedicated to this story XD If someone has made or found any artwork, please PM me and I will link it up on my page for everyone to see! Thank you for your time!_**)**


	12. Stay True, Stay Tier 2!

**Hey guys, what's going on!? Not much, so let's just get right on with this story! **

**1.) Akiko has second thoughts on her own abilities!**

**2.) Tomū speaks to Inari, learns of how they met!**

**3.) Tomū promises to bring back Kaiza!**

**What's going to happen next? FIND OUT DAMMIT!**

**I will be posting reviews or private messages that involve questions to the story that others might think about as well! I'll post up to 5 question reviews/private messages! And I still need ideas people! Fillers in case I feel like I'm rushing some of the plot.**

"Hello, what's good bitch?"~Character talking

_'Damn, she got a fine ass!'~Character thinking_

**"I'll blow you to smithereens!"~Bijuu/Boss talking**

_**'Wow, he really is an idiot...'~Bijuu/Boss thinking**_

(_PS-I would also appreciate any type of fanart dedicated to this story XD If someone has made or found any artwork, please PM me and I will link it up on my page for everyone to see! Thank you for your time!_)

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Just my OC!**

* * *

**Chapter 12: Stay True, Stay Tier 2!**

* * *

**8 Minutes Earlier...**

"... Are you on drugs, Akiko?" Katsu picked his head up from the table and looked at his teammate with squinting eyes. Where the hell did that come from? He saw the light flush in her cheeks, but Akiko showed barely any signs of embarrassment. Hell, the look in her eyes didn't even look humorous. More like confused. Lost.

Shaken.

"I'm being serious, Katsu." Akiko sighed, rubbing her elbows. Her eyes momentarily drifted down to the table before they locked with Katsu's once more. "Do you think I'm weak?"

"What brought this on?" The Hyūga sat up straight and looked at his long-time friend with slightly worried eyes. "This... isn't like you to doubt yourself. Usually you're full of confidence." Akiko let out a sigh. That was true. Even though all three of them were confident in themselves, Akiko had always been the one who looked to expand her abilities in any way she could. Although Katsu wasn't afraid to show off his skills and Tomū wanted to get stronger, Akiko would simply be the most driven out of all of them.

But now, the Hyūga wasn't sure what to make of her.

"Well can you blame me?" Akiko shot back with a frown. "We nearly lost our lives today! On our first mission outside of the village no less." Her voice dropped into a low mumble. "Don't tell me you're not stressed about it too. And neither is Tomū. I've seen his hand twitching before he left for the bathroom and I saw how you'd always space out whenever we'd mention Etsuko's name."

"You're right." Katsu admitted. He closed his eyes with a sigh. Leave it to Akiko to see right through him. After all, he'd always be the one to look carefree, even when things were bleak. "But that doesn't mean you should beat yourself up over it. I'll admit, we got our asses handed to us. But we were going against a trained killer, Akiko. You, the smartest out of all three of us, should already know how slim victory was even when we worked together. Hell, if I were you, I'd focus on how lucky we are to even be alive right now. Seeing as how you were the closest to dying in that bubble."

"Don't remind me..." Akiko's fingers clenched against the skin on her arms. She tried to ignore the horrid flashbacks as best as she could. "But it still bothers how easily we got taken down. Especially me. I may not have an advanced bloodline like you or dual swords like Tomū, but I am the best with chakra control. During all of that fighting, all I could do was make a pathetic genjutsu. And that didn't even hold her long enough for us to hit her once."

Her voice began to quiver.. "All the training we did together... none of that helped us in the slightest. None of it helped me."

"Look at me." The Hyūga ordered gently. Akiko flinched when she felt his fingers touch her left hand. And only when Katsu saw a tear drip down onto the table, did he know how serious this was. Damn it, he always found this situation to be one of the few things he sucked at. Making a friend laugh and smile were one thing, but to comfort a crying one was entirely an entirely different ball-game. "Listen to me closely, cause I'm only going to say this once. You are strong."

"But-" Akiko interjected, but Katsu was quick to interrupt.

"No. Now shut the fuck up and listen to me. It's like you said, you don't have a bloodline or swords to help you fight. But that doesn't make you weak. You're the brains of our team, our leader in case things go to shit without Anko to help us out. You can make strategies on the fly as if you were a Nara. You know how to do medical ninjutsu, perform genjutsu, and you're the most precise out of all of us with kunai and shuriken." He saw Akiko look at him with disbelief, but that didn't stop the snort that escaped his lips. "You got that uh... thing you're working on. And I'm pretty sure that if I weren't a Hyūga, you'd be the best in taijutsu in our team. So there's no need to doubt yourself like this. Just be glad you're alive to fight another day."

It wasn't normal for Katsu to ever speak about things so seriously like this, but Akiko knew that her teammate was trying. Hard at that. She found it a little amusing whenever he stopped to think about what else to say. Eventually at the end of his little speech, she found it easier to put a smile on her face. "There's the adorable Akiko I know." Katsu chuckled, getting a playful slap against his arm in return.

"Shut up." Akiko laughed. "I'm not cute. I'm fluffy." She reminded by patting the hair atop of her head, taking a moment to enjoy the softness of her locks.

"Still the same bitch though." This time he got a punch to the shoulder, but it didn't hurt as much as it was supposed to.

While Katsu was busy laughing at the glare Akiko was shooting at him, the sound of clapping behind them got their attention. "My, wasn't that touching?" Anko commented as she walked up to the two and sat down next to Katsu. "I didn't expect Mr. Wise-Ass over here to have such a way with words."

"We all a lot more capable then you give us credit for." Katsu informed.

"I'll admit you two got potential," Anko snorted and crossed her arms under her bust, grinning at the two in front of her. "But the village will burn before Gaki Number 1 shows any promise." Seeing a disagreeing frown on Akiko's face and the 'I don't know, she's got a point...' eye-roll from Katsu, Anko simply shrugged and pulled out a long kunai. "Speaking of the Gaki, is he still upstairs in the can? Cuz we got some business to do."

"Like what?"

* * *

"Ooooh, that's this is what you mean." Katsu grinned as he rubbed his hands together, looking at the tall trees behind Anko. On his right, Tomū was seen stretching his legs like a man who was ready to race a marathon and on his left was Akiko, who cracked her knuckles in preparation.

After the little fiasco with Tsunami actually scolding Anko about weapon safety in her home and Tomū rushing down with shaking legs, Anko had taken the group outside into the forest, but not too far from Tazuna's house in case anything went wrong in their absence. It appears Anko had gotten a message from the Hokage just a bit before she returned to the house. After sending a second message to clarify the situation at hand, specifically about the dangers of making contact with an ex-Kiri Hunter Nin and the Faceless Swordsman, the Hokage replied with a message stating that they were indeed getting reinforcements to help aid them.

That was good news, but due to the distance from Wave to Konoha, reinforcements would take quite a while to get there.

Regular reinforcements that is. Anko had a hunch that after reading Hiruzen's message, the only group that could arrive in a couple of days could only be an ANBU team. They were the only ranked fighters that could travel long distances in such a short time on such a dangerous task against a powerful enemy.

However, in the meantime until their arrival, Anko would be damned if she'd allowed her students to remain cooped up in Tazuna's house.

Not solely because she would be bored as well, but also because she didn't want to worry too much about them in case things get too out of hand.

Which brings them to their new training regimen.

"That's right, Bug-Eyes." Anko said, jutting a thumb towards the trees behind her. "At first I initially planned to have you kids work on Tree Climbing to build up on your chakra control, but since Akiko here mentioned that you guys did early training and taught yourself to the point of mastering Water Walking, I'll have to change things up a bit." The female genin of the team nodded as she looked at her two teammates, both of them grinning back at her.

Still, that tidbit of information barely caught Anko off guard. With all the training they've done so far and the drive to get better, there wasn't any surprise that they snuck into a library and taught themselves two of the most popular chakra exercises. 'Still, I must be damn lucky to have 3 prodigies that can master water walking in their final year in the academy.' Anko thought in amusement.

To be honest, she felt proud to be their sensei.

And happy as fuck that she didn't have to go through basic chakra exercises with them. This only sped things up quicker than she hoped.

"So what's on the agenda today?" Tomū grunted as he switched legs.

"Hold your horses there, Gaki. We're still doing Tree Walking." Just as the three were going to mention that they already learned it, the jonin quickly added "With a twist."

"Continue." Katsu urged.

"Since our last fight was complete and utter bullshit," Anko didn't fail to notice that her words induced a negative reactions from each of them. "It's up to me to whip your asses into shape. Now I won't guarantee that you'll win against one of two possibly S-Rank shinobi, but in case Gato decides to send out bandits, you'll be more than prepared." Without even making a grunt of effort, the purple haired woman jumped up.

The trio watched their sensei perform a flip and land upside-down under a branch. Anko pointed a finger at them and her grin turned sadistic. "You three will be sparring with me. But there a few catches. The first is that you're only able to fight using the Tree Climbing technique. The second is... should you fall to the ground," She ran through a series of hand-signs and slammed her hand down onto the branch under her feet. "My little friend here will make sure you get your asses back up here."

A burst of smoke later, Akiko and Tomū's faces blanched at the sight of a large, possibly 40 foot long, dark brown anaconda slithering its body around the branch and looking down at the teens with hungry golden eyes. Katsu, on the other hand, took in a deep breath and cracked his neck. "Doesn't sound too hard."

The snake narrowed its eyes and spoke in a female voice. "Can I eat him first?"

"Not yet, Kane-chan." Anko sighed. "We'll give them three strikes. After that, you can do whatever the hell you want."

"Y-You wouldn't really let her eat us, would you?" Tomū stuttered as he saw the large snake slink down to the ground. His teammates had already rushed into the tree tops to join their mentor while Kane lifted her head and grinned hungrily down at the swordsman. Her forked tongue slithered out before she spoke in a low tone. "I suggest you get started, little boy..."

Tomū let out a squeaky yelp as he jumped over Kane's lurching head and took off into the trees before she could get the chance to swallow him whole.

* * *

**Ok, like I said before, a wee-bit unoriginal type shit was bound to happen since its the Wave Arc for fucks sake. But before people whine about the lack of creativity, I'm just saying that things are going the way they should be. Just leave it be and enjoy Anko's Tier 2 fun! XD Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! I'll probably be posting more frequently, but I do ask of you guys to please suggest this story to your friends! I want to milk the popularity as much as I can before I get to the juicy bits of this story!**

**And remember, any questions in reviews or private messages will be posted at the top of the next chapter!**

**I'll leave it here! Peace!**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

(_PS-I would also appreciate any type of fanart dedicated to this story XD If someone has made or found any artwork, please PM me and I will link it up on my page for everyone to see! Thank you for your time!_)


	13. Let's Move Out!

**Hey guys! I've noticed there's more and more followers to this wonderful story of mine! Makes me happy to know I'm spreading my passion to more people who share the same love for stories as I do! But I digress from the point at hand! The fact that people enjoy my OC story of a Naruto fic means that there's still hope for OC AUs! But still, what happened last time?**

**Not much besides Katsu showing a caring side and helping Akiko see just how much value she truly has as a kunoichi. Also, Anko plans to train her students even more before reinforcements arrive! Some Tier 2 level shit though...**

**Caught up? Good! Let's jump in this bitch!**

"Hello, what's good bitch?"~Character talking

_'Damn, she got a fine ass!'~Character thinking_

**"I'll blow you to smithereens!"~Bijuu/Boss talking**

_**'Wow, he really is an idiot...'~Bijuu/Boss thinking**_

_(PS-I would also appreciate any type of fanart dedicated to this story XD If someone has made or found any artwork, please PM me and I will link it up on my page for everyone to see! Thank you for your time!)_

**Disclaimer: We DO NOT own Naruto! Just our OCs :)**

* * *

**Chapter 13: Let's Move Out!**

* * *

Tomū had already managed to pry himself out of bed. Although taking a few minutes to fully wake up.

He did notice the extra three futons that were empty and neatly organized, meaning his team were already awake and possibly waiting for him. Likely already outside in the forest going through more drills.

With that thought in mind, the teen swordsman clapped his hands against his cheeks to wake himself up. That did it in a snap.

He felt refreshed.

No, even better. He felt invigorated!

Tomū wasn't sure what brought on such a boost of energy. All he did was take a rest after last night's training session, which lasted all the way until near midnight. He had checked the time once he woke up and learned that it was only 1:21 pm, meaning he slept longer than he meant to. No problem though. His sore and bruised body needed the rest. But even then, he was so exhausted before he collapsed onto his futon. A simply rest shouldn't be enough to get him so energized upon waking up.

He decided it was too soon to be worrying about it and continued with his regular wake up routine, which involved stretching out his stiff muscles and showering to get the leftover grime.

After he cleaned himself up, he still felt like he was ready for any kind of harsh training Anko could dish out.

"Pfft, as if last night wasn't enough." Tomū snorted as he remembered version three of Tree Climbing. First being the normal chakra exercise, second being the spar while keeping off the ground. Last night was a bit more challenging. Instead of the three of them charging Anko as a team, the jonin had gone full offensive and rained kunai and shuriken at them.

While they had to keep off the ground that was occupied by a pit of incredibly dangerous and poisonous gigantic snakes.

He didn't doubt that their reflexes and skills have sharpened in the last two days with Anko's harsh training sessions.

The woman may be a psychotic masochist, but she did know her shit when training rookies.

Even if her methods were a bit... deadly.

Tomū rolled out his neck and shoulders before he slipped on his outfit. Strapping the swords onto his back, the teen left the guest room to join his team for the day ahead of them.

* * *

"So you mean to tell us that you risk being taken down by a mob boss by the name of Gato, who also hired the aid of ex-Kiri ANBU Ayanami Etsuko and the Faceless Samurai?" The first thing Tomū acknowledged was the unfamiliar gruff male voice soon followed by the feeling of 4 new chakra signatures in the living room. He heard his mentor answer with a plain and simple "Yup."

"Why do you always end up in stupid situations like these, Anko-san?" A female voice sighed. "And to drag a couple of genin down with you too?"

"Hey, just so you know, we technically completed the mission. This was just a little extra baggage." Anko rebuked defensively. Tomū nodded to himself as he walked down the stairs. One of the first things Anko had done when they met Tazuna was hand over the scroll of sealed supplies needed to help build the bridge. So in all terms, it was a completed mission.

"What's going on?" Tomū spoke out once he reached the bottom step, taking a moment of pause when he noticed that four of Konoha's elite ANBU Black Ops members were currently seated at the table alongside Tazuna and Team 1.

"So that's your last kid?" Another male voice chuckled, but this one sounded lighthearted. The voice came from the man sitting closest to his mentor, with dark orange colored hair and a tiger-like mask concealing his face. "Looks a little green behind the ears, but he's exactly like you described Mitarashi." It sounded like he clicked his teeth before gesturing towards an empty seat next to him. "Why don't you take a seat? We're just going over what we're dealing with."

The young swordsman did as he was told. Once he sat down, he sent a few excited glances towards his friends. His heart just wouldn't stop beating at the fact that he, a simple genin, was sitting in a room filled with the four of the Leaf's Elite. His eyes roamed around the room and took in the appearance of the other three.

One of them was a male just like the other. This one had black curly hair, his hulking figure showing through his uniform and his mask resembling the animalistic face of a bear. (**Jap: Kuma**)

The last two were female judging by their figures and hair. The one sitting on the right had long purple hair and a sword strapped on her back, a cat mask as well. (**Jap: Neko**) And the one on the left had light blue hair that stopped just a few centimeters below her shoulders, her mask somewhat resembling the face of a rabbit. (**Jap: Usagi**)

Bear lightly nudged Tomū in the shoulder. "Anko was just telling Captain Tora about needing to rescue a man named Kaiza."

Tiger, or going by his code-name **Tora**, nodded. "It may not be top priority, but seeing as how he's involved with this mission as well, we can't simply overlook it."

"So what's the plan, Tora-san?" Taka asked.

"Well first, we don't truly know what we're dealing with. So far, all we know is we are going up against 2 highly skilled S-Rank shinobi. That and Tazuna-san told us that Gato has a potential army of bandits at his beck and call." Tora reminded as he placed a hand under his chin. "If we're to go and rescue Kaiza, we can't just risk leaving Tazuna's village wide open to any underhanded attacks Gato might have planned in case something goes wrong. And it is likely that the two S-Ranks are guarding Kaiza-san, meaning we'll have to split our forces equally."

"If it's not too much trouble, I wouldn't mind staying here to protect the village while you guys charge Gato's base." Kuma suggested with crossed arms.

"You sure?" Tora questioned. "We might need your strength in case of emergencies."

"We going up against a swordsman and a dangerous water-style user. I may be good for defense and clearing the area, but in an open match against speedy assassins like them won't end well."

"He has a point Captain." Usagi agreed.

"Alright, then it's settled. Usagi and Neko will support me." Tora declared as he stood up from his chair. "We'll move out in five minutes, understood?." Earning nods from his teammates, the masked captain left the table and begun waiting outside of the house, soon to be joined by his two selected teammates.

"Wait a minute, you're going too?" Tomū blinked in surprise when he noticed Anko grabbing her gear.

"Of course I am, Gaki." The jonin snorted. "I know where the midget's base is, after all."

"Sure you won't slow 'em down?" Katsu joked.

"Ooh, I like this one already." Bear laughed as he pointed a finger towards the grinning Hyūga. "Anyone who has to balls to talk like that earns a respect point in my book." As if showing his respect, the large bulky man offered a hand and the two high-fived without a single care towards the glaring purple haired jonin.

"Looks like Bug-Eyes just earned a game of Hide and Die with Kane-chan." Anko threatened.

Katsu shrugged, the threat flying over his head. "Seems fair."

"Nonetheless, I should hurry up and get with the program. Gotta hurry before Kaiza's done in." Anko sighed as she gave a quick check-over in her weapons pouch. Making sure she had everything she needed, including a sufficient amount of kunai/shuriken, soldier pills, exploding tags, etc., the jonin zipped up the pouch and stood straight with crossed arms. Her eyes stared seriously at each of her students. "And while I'm gone, you will stay in this house and listen to everything Kuma orders. Understand?"

"You know we will." Akiko huffed and waved her hand in mock hurt. "What'd you expect we'd do, go shopping with Tsunami-san?"

"I wouldn't put it past Gaki over there," Anko said bluntly, catching onto the tick-mark on the teen's forehead. "Regardless, this is a very serious situation and I don't want to come back to see one of your corpses just because you guys didn't listen to orders."

"That's a good way to show you care." Tomū grumbled while Kuma let out another laugh.

"Mitarashi-san, are you ready to move out?" Tora's voice called out from outside.

"Yeah, I'm ready!" The jonin called back as she jogged to the front door. Just before she stepped out, she gave her students one more look. "Be careful, okay." was all she said before the door closed, leaving the group alone at the table. Everyone gave it a few seconds before the 4 chakra signatures outside soon sped off into the forest.

"Now, if I know Anko, then you kids must be somewhat identical to who she is." Kuma said as he stood up from his chair and gave each genin a quick, knowing look over. "I may be an ANBU, but even I know things can be a bit stressing for rookies at your age. And something tells me you feeling a little jumpy." Kuma specified by pointing a hand at Tomū, who pointed to himself in confusion. "You had that disappointed look in your eye the second Anko mention staying inside. Let me guess, you wanted to train or something?"

"I-I guess, but are you sure its a good idea to go outside?"

"Yeah, as much as I want to train outside, I don't exactly want to risk getting into a fight I can't handle." Katsu admitted with a serious tone.

"You guys got an ANBU watching over you." Kuma snorted as he waved a hand to follow him to the door. "If anything, the worst we'll encounter out there is a few bandits thinking their hot-shit."

"I'm not so sure..." Akiko shook her head slowly.

"Fine, how about this?" Kuma sighed as he made a single hand-sign. A second later, the teens felt another similar chakra signature outside before an identical clone of the ANBU stepped through the door. The original placed a hand on his clone's shoulder and gave the team a thumbs up. "You guys don't have to follow me, but I'm still going outside to make a quick check over the area to see if I can place any traps. In the meantime, I'll leave an earth clone behind to watch over things here. Sound good?"

"I think I'll stay here." Akiko answered.

"Same." Katsu agreed.

"I'm going with him." Tomū declared as he stood up. He could see the questioning stares of his friends and shot them a grin as he made his way over to the ANBU. "I haven't told you guys yet, but I'm working on a few techniques Kaa-chan suggested to me. I'm actually pretty good using them, but just in case things get crazy, I want to be able to rely on them." Just like he expected, he got a stern glare from Akiko.

"What did we say about hiding things from each other, Tomū-Baka?" She warned with narrowed eyes.

"Hey, this is something I needed to do by myself. If I messed up anything, I don't want to get blamed for you guys getting injured." Tomū quickly responded with his hands raised defensively in front of him. That did nothing to soften the glare from his female teammate and even Katsu was staring at him with a hint of suspicion. "It'll be worth it, I promise. You can get me back later when we're back in Konoha, alright?" Tomū chuckled nervously as Tanuki opened the door and the two stepped out.

Akiko sighed as the door closed and the Tanuki clone sat down at the table with them. "Baka. He's lucky we're working on new techniques too." She muttered with crossed arms. "But he doesn't see us keeping them a secret..."

"Anyone up for a round of Rock-Paper-Scissors?" Katsu suggested plainly.

Akiko gave Katsu a blank stare before she shook her head. She held out her hand. "Fuck it. Nothing better to do anyway."

Kuma's clone joined the table as well.

* * *

**Meanwhile...**

* * *

_'This feeling...'_

The seemingly sentient whip wriggled out of its 'confines' before it was deactivated by its creator. Etsuko's eyes moved to the side, as if she inspected the dark walls. "You feel that?" She whispered to nobody in particular. The silence of the room was her only answer until a fit of giggles escaped from her, breaking the quiet. "Oooh~" She hummed as she looked back down at her Kiri mask. Her bloodied mask.

Her shiny red fingers gripped against the mask's edges. "Hehehe, it looks like the fun's about to begin!"

She had caught onto the rapidly incoming chakra signatures as soon as they reached the borderline of their base.

"Can't wait to make them mine..." She whispered to herself. Her tongue licked her lips before she brought up a hand to her face.

Her fingers were still coated in blood. The thick, warm essence of life she craved for. Feeling the wet digits run down her face, Etsuko let out pleased groans as the warmth of the crimson liquid touched her sensitive skin.

The tingles she felt run up her spine were erotic, sending shivers through her body. She could imagine it, everything she planned for the purple haired jonin was soon to become a reality. "Hearing her screams will be soooo good..." She moaned, picturing the moment she could run her hands along Anko's abused body, taking in the addictive satisfaction of breaking down her will, molding her into another one of her... playthings.

A sigh of disappointment left her mouth. "It's a shame Gato-san ordered a kill-on-sight." Etsuko mumbled. "Oh well."

"Maybe the next one will be as fun as you, right sweetie?" Using the rag to clean off the blood from her mask, Etsuko's eyes trailed down to admire her latest 'project'.

It was a man. Used to be for that matter. Now it was just a corpse.

A corpse who's arms were dangling above due to the chains tightened around the wrists. Wrists that seemed twisted, skin torn off in mad attempts of escape. There were pools of his blood everywhere, so much that Etsuko took another moment to reminisce the corpse's final moments.

She loved the feeling of him squirm under her touch when she removed both of his eyes, a method to heighten his sense of physical contact. She loved how his screams of agony sent her into a world of pleasure. Her tongue ran across several of her sharpened teeth. Oh how the taste of his blood still lingered in her mouth...

But she had to end it. The man had already broke under her torment.

All that was left was his corpse. The holes that used to harbor his eyes were bandaged, soaked red. There was a splotch of red between his legs, a clear sign that he was no longer the man he was supposed to be. From his ankles, his feet were sawed off as well. It was a way to make sure he could never escape. His torso remained open, revealing everything there was to his insides. It was as if his chest burst open from the inside out.

He didn't even have a heart anymore...

The blonde stopped to take in the horrified face of her victim before her mask concealed the sadistic grin that formed over her lips. She cracked her knuckles.

"Let's show them the true meaning of fun, shall we...?"

* * *

**Alright! How was that, folks!? And what the hell was with that ending there? You'll find out in the next chapter! Keep up the good times peeps, I'll catch you later!**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**

_(PS-I would also appreciate any type of fanart dedicated to this story XD If someone has made or found any artwork, please PM me and I will link it up on my page for everyone to see! Thank you for your time!)_


	14. Into the Fray

**And we're back ladies and gentlemen! MERRY LATE CHRISTMAS! XD**

**Anyway, I'd like to make a quick apology for the people who've been waiting for another chapter to come in! My excuse? Forgot. Writer's Block. Laziness. Pick any one of them, it's probably true. Still, we're back in business anyway so let's try to get a move on! Anybody remember what happened last time!? Not... much actually. Back-up from Konoha arrived! A Four-Man ANBU cell arrived to assist Team 1! Tomu has something he needs to work on in secret! Etsuko's had a bit of fun time in the basement! Oooh~ **

**Enough of that! Let's get going!**

**In other words, GET TO READING! **

"Hello, what's good bitch?"~Character talking

'_Damn, she got a fine ass!'~Character thinking_

**"I'll blow you to smithereens!"~Bijuu/Boss talking**

**'_Wow, he really is an idiot...'~_Bijuu/Boss thinking**

**(**_PS-I would also appreciate any type of fanart dedicated to this story XD If someone has made or found any artwork, please PM me and I will link it up on my page for everyone to see! Thank you for your time!_**)**

**Disclaimer****: I do not own Naruto, just my OC.**

* * *

**Chapter 14****: Into the Fray...**

* * *

"I believe you sensed them as well?" The swordsman said with crossed arms, barely craning his neck to the right to look at his partner, Etsuko. Who, in response, nodded. After her 'activities', the ex-Kiri kunoichi had quickly joined up with the swordsman in the only place she knew he'd be. Gato's office. And said man was looking at the two killers with wide eyes, an enraged scowl plastered on his face.

"You mean to tell me that old drunk Tazuna managed to hire even more shinobi!?" The mob boss exclaimed.

"Yup!" Etsuko chirped.

"Gato," The Faceless Samurai said. "I believe it would be wise for you to retreat along with Kaiza. From what I can tell, the Leaf shinobi are moving at speeds only Jonin and possible ANBU level. Not only that, but there are 4 of them. One of them being the purple haired kunoichi we encountered earlier." Neither of the two killers flinched in the slightest when Gato slammed his fist down on his desk. "Then I ask you, why in the hell didn't you kill her the first time!? It's because of your blunder that we risk getting caught!"

"Your orders were to capture Kaiza," The samurai replied smoothly. "not eliminate any Leaf shinobi."

"I know what I said!" Gato growled. He glared at the swordsman through his shades. "Capture Kaiza! That means kill anyone who opposes me!"

"Gato-kun, I'd watch what I'd say if I were you~" Etsuko hummed off to the side. It didn't take long for the small man to shrink further back into his chair when he realized that the samurai's sword was slowly inching out of its sheath. The taller man stared at Gato through his mask, his eyes as cold as his tone. "I'd advise you to keep your tantrums in-check, _Boss_."

"Uh..." Gato coughed into his hand before stuttering out his response. "I-I understand you've been following orders." The mob boss pointed a finger at each of his bodyguards. "However, this is still something you two need to deal with. Is that clear?" He had meant to sound intimidating, but his voice quivered after taking another look at the sword in front of him. Both of his bodyguards nodded simultaneously before they looked at each other.

"Etsuko, you'll go outside and deal with the enemy." The blonde had already began cracking her neck and knuckles. "After I escort Gato to the bunker, I'll join you shortly." Etsuko gave him a thumbs-up before making her way to the door. A grin grew from under her mask.

"You'll get what's left of them, Swordsman-kun."

* * *

_***Squelch!***_

"Another one down!" Anko called out. She pulled out the kunai from the dead bandit's forehead before stretching out her arm to the right, shooting out snakes from her sleeves. "Make that two!" The interrogator smirked as the large man, who attempted to cave her skull in with a club, stopped in his tracks and began struggling against the binding of 4 pythons. Before he could utter a word, a single snake slithered around his throat and with a sickening **_*Snap!*_**, the man fell to the ground with his neck bent in an unnatural angle.

The jonin took a look around in their new battlegrounds.

They had reached Gato's base, which was actually some sort of mini-fort built using the resources stolen from Tazuna's village. And it wasn't surprising that the villagers couldn't locate the base. It had been easily camouflaged by the forest and used ravines to block off certain traveling paths. Dangerous for villagers, challenging for low level shinobi.

But it didn't take long for the group to reach their location.

And once they did, they wasted no time engaging the bandit camps located outside the base. It didn't even matter if they were caught off guard or not because the second Tora ordered their execution, the team made quick work of them.

"This isn't a game, Anko-san." Came a groan from Neko after she sliced open the stomach of another bandit. She didn't even spare the dying man a glance as he tried to keep his intestines from spilling out. "We need to-" She reversed the grip of her sword and thrust it behind her, impaling the chest of a bandit who attempted to sneak up on her. "Find Kaiza-san and detain Gato." She finished smoothly.

"I know, I know." The jonin rolled her eyes just as Tora appeared next to her.

Behind him were several burning corpses.

None of which were recognizable anymore.

"Let's hurry." The ANBU captain ordered. "The more time we waste cutting down Gato's army, the higher the risk of-" The man stopped talking after feeling a burst of chakra. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" His hands quickly sped through a series of signs before he let loose a large fireball to block incoming water bullets. As the steam rose around Tora and Anko, the other 2 ANBU finished their share of bandits just in time to hear clapping.

"Good show! Good show!"

Anko lost her smirk and replaced it with a scowl, holding up her kunai.

"To think Konoha ANBU are so adept at shooting elemental techniques through their masks. Color me impressed!" Etsuko complimented as she stepped through the front doors. She continued forward without a hint of fear as the three ANBU and a single jonin glared her down, ready to attack at moment's notice. All she did was clap in amusement before stopping at a corpse of her... 'associates'. "My, you sure made a mess of things."

"Cut the shit bitch and tell us where Kaiza is!" Anko demanded with narrowed eyes.

She hadn't forgotten the beating Etsuko had given her students.

"Feisty as ever, hm?" The blonde hummed. "No matter. As long as I hold you guys here, Gato-kun should be long gone." From the tone of her voice, Anko could practically feel the sinister grin hidden behind the mask. The blonde kunoichi reached for the handle of her whip. "Long enough for Kaiza to disappear," The group tensed as killer intent increased in the air.

Etsuko charged forward with a battle-ready roar. "LONG ENOUGH TO HAVE FUN!"

"Move!" Tora ordered, being the first to avoid the water whip just as it cracked against the ground. "Who wants to die first!?" The blonde hollered as her hand flailed around. The other's had moved as ordered, but the second their feet left the ground, the whip wildly lashed forward towards the closest person.

Which was Anko.

Too slow to react, Anko let out a choking gasp as the tendril quickly wrapped itself around her neck and tightened. "Looks like we have a volunteer!" Etsuko laughed as she gave the whip a strong yank, causing the jonin to lurch forward. Firmly planting her feet into the ground, Anko managed to stop herself from being pulled in and grabbed the whip with her hands, trying to release herself.

Etsuko sucked her teeth in annoyance when she heard rushing footsteps from her right. "Not on my watch!" The kunoichi pulled her head back just in time to avoid a punch from the ANBU captain. Tora hadn't wasted a second after pulling back his left arm, spinning on his heels as he tried to deliver a low kick to the back of Etsuko's ankles. The ANBU captain saw Etsuko perform another back-flip and watched the woman's hands run through several hand-signs.

"Water Style:," She pulled her mask from her smiling mouth. "Miniature Water Colliding Waves!"

Water spout from her lips and crashed into the ground. Tora had already attempted to dodge, but he was still too close. He was soon carried away by large waves. Seeing the man left vulnerable trying to escape the tides, Etsuko landed back on her feet and attempted to charge him. She stopped when she felt the ground twist and turn underneath her feet.

"Hidden Technique," The blonde kunoichi had been too slow to react as the heads of 4 large, black mambas shot out of the dirt with bared fangs. "Underground Snake Trap!" Anko called out as she watched her snakes coil around Etsuko's body and limbs, stopping her movements completely. "Finish it!" The jonin ordered as a single mamba bit down on the blonde's neck. Her body stiffened like a board as the poison seeped into her bloodstream.

Anko knew something was off and sucked her teeth in annoyance when she saw a wooden log substitute in place of her enemy.

"Anko-san, look out!" The jonin looked back after hearing Neko's warning. From the forest surrounding the base, 5 eel-like tendrils flew out towards her in a full-on assault. By the time she had seen them, they were too close for her to dodge. Luckily, Neko had stepped into place with her sword drawn. "Hidden Technique: Dance of the Fallen Leaves!" She charged chakra into her swords before engaging the eels head on, slicing her way through their bodies using tiny chakra blades to sharpen her weapon.

As soon as the water eels dropped to the ground in pieces, Neko had spun on her heels and adjusted her hold on her sword into a reverse grip. "Wind Release: Force Wind Slash!" Letting loose a large blade of wind into the air, Neko watched through her mask with narrowed eyes as her attack zoomed towards a targeted tree.

Like she had thought, Etsuko had revealed herself after rolling out from behind the tree a split second before the bark was cleanly cut through the middle.

Laughing, Etsuko had rolled herself onto her feet and began sprinting toward them.

Anko readied herself with another kunai, but saw a hand stop her from Usagi. The bunny masked ANBU shook her head. "Leave her to Neko-san and I. You and Tora-san should search the base for Kaiza-san." The purple haired jonin furrowed her brows. She couldn't possibly mean that, could she? They were ANBU for a reason, but she had seen first hand what kind of techniques the blonde psychopath can dish out. "Are you sure you can handle it?" Anko got her answer when Usagi started to go through a series of hand-signs.

"Come on," Tora called out to Anko. She turned to see the man charging towards the base. "We don't have much time!"

"Where do you think you're going!?" Etsuko hollered as she reached into the pouches on her waist and sent a group of 6 shurikens soaring towards them.

Once again, her attack was deflected by the help of Neko's sword. Said ANBU took on a fighting stance, sword pointing towards Etsuko. "I'd advise you to focus on us." As expected, Etsuko didn't pay any mind to the purple haired swordsman. It seems her attention caught onto her teammate instead, who had just finished her hand-signs. "It was your mistake for using so much water." The light blue haired ANBU remained still as she stood in the large puddles left by Etsuko's earlier attacks. Said water began to wriggle along the surface until it shot into the air, gathering up into a large body of water.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" Usagi exclaimed as the water took the shape of a dragon's head.

Yellow eyes began to glow from the dragon as it spotted Etsuko, who had stopped upon seeing the beast lunge at her. The blonde had waited for the dragon to come in close enough before leaping over its head, allowing it to race by her harmlessly. However, Etsuko had been kept on her toes. The body of the dragon had arched and slapped her away from Usagi before she came to close, causing her to lose balance long enough for the dragon to turn around and attack her again.

The blonde began to pant behind her mask. She was starting to get a bit tired from constantly dodging, but so far, the dragon hadn't managed to touch her.

"It's like a game of cat and mouse!" Etsuko laughed to herself, flipping over the jaws of the dragon and watching it carve through the ground. "I just have to keep moving until you run out chakra!" The kunoichi felt another presence behind her and quickly spun around in time to block Neko's sword with a kunai. Luckily she had infused her kunai with chakra to avoid it being sliced clean in half like the tree from earlier.

"You should've payed more attention to your surroundings." Neko said.

Etsuko snorted. "I blocked you, didn't I?"

"My sword? Yes." The purple haired swordsman pulled back her weapon before delivering a strong kick into Etsuko's gut, forcing the wind out of the blonde's lungs and sending her crashing back down to the ground. "My leg? Not so much." Neko mumbled to herself as she watched her partner's water dragon turn back around and rushed Etsuko once more.

This time, the attack connected. As soon as the dragon's jaws reached the downed Etsuko, the blonde soon felt her body collide with the force of a hundred tons of water. The pressure picked her off the ground and it was strong enough to reduce her movements. Muffled screams came from the assassin as the dragon arched back down towards the ground.

Neko stopped at Usagi's side and saw that her partner was kneeling down on one knee, breathing heavily. "You okay?"

"Y-Yeah. That technique burns through my chakra so much." The blue haired ANBU panted. She watched her technique end in an explosion a few meters away from them. Due to the smoke, they couldn't see very well. They had sensed no chakra anywhere nearby, meaning their opponent hadn't been able to substitute and was still in the center of it. Usagi gave a dry chuckle. "We're lucky you caught her off guard long enough for me to hit her."

"... Get back on your feet." Neko ordered firmly as she raised her sword. The smoke had began to clear, but there was still the lingering chakra from inside the cloud. "We're still not done yet."

As the smoke drifted away, a shadow slowly moved and stood up.

"You've... really done it... now... " Etsuko coughed out as her hands reached up to her mask. Usagi and Neko both got a clear look at Etsuko's condition. The blonde was bleeding from her left shoulder down to her hand, the entire arm twisting at an unnatural angle. Broken. Her parts of her clothes were torn and her chest armor had cracked.

But Etsuko wasn't worried about something as pointless as clothing.

"Neko-san?" Usagi whispered.

"Hai, I know." Neko answered, gripping her sword tighter as the two felt the growing killing intent. "Don't drop your guard. Not even for a second."

Using her good hand, Etsuko reached up to her face. Her mask had cracked in several places and when her fingertips touched the hard material, the mask shattered into pieces. "My mask... you broke it..." The blonde whispered as she looked at a fragment that landed in her palm. Etsuko bit down on her lower lip hard enough to draw a thin line of blood. "That's not good... not good at all..." It was like her voice had changed from eccentric to full of malice.

"You two... no," Clenching the fragment in her hand, the assassin pointed a finger towards "_You...!_"

Usagi felt most of the KI focus on her, causing her to swallow a tiny lump in her throat. From behind the hanging strands of hair, she could see Etsuko's eyes glaring at her angrily. Two mismatched colored eyes bore into her. Her right was a crimson red. The left an emerald green. But without her mask her mask to conceal her identity, both ANBU could see Etsuko's face as clear as day.

She was scarred. Most of the left side of her face was a permanent red scar, as if she was burned in some type of way.

Throwing the mask fragment to the ground, Etsuko sucked her teeth and her right hand took hold of her left arm. Not even a hint of pain showed on her face as the blonde twisted the arm back into place. "With that out of the way," She flexed her slightly numb and twitching arm. Her lips curled up into a sadistic grin.

"Let the real games begin."

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**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter so far, especially since it's been nearly an entire month since I last updated. Anyways, I might actually want a little feedback for this chapter. Since I'm absolutely shit at fight scenes, I want some tips just in case I messed anything up or if things are a little cliche. Still, I hope you liked Chapter 14! The real mess will start soon, hopefully in the next chapter... ;)**

**Anyways, peace!**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

**(**_PS-I would also appreciate any type of fanart dedicated to this story XD If someone has made or found any artwork, please PM me and I will link it up on my page for everyone to see! Thank you for your time!_**)**


	15. Paint the Land Red

**Hey guys, what's going on!? Sorry it took so long for me to update. I've been having troubles with my house computer, meaning all my information for all of my fanfictions are currently locked away from me, or worse, deleted before I could store them into another location. But with the help of school computers, I have been able to continue working in the small times I can spare, which led me to this new chapter! Hope you guys can forgive my unfortunate situations, but first, let's see what happened last time!**

**1.) The Faceless Samurai and Gato retreat to a safe-house!**

**2.) Anko and the ANBU raid Gato's bandits.**

**3.) The group battles Etsuko before Anko and Tora invade the base itself!**

**4.) Neko and Usagi are faced with Etsuko, who seems to be getting 'excited'!**

"Hello, what's good bitch?"~Character talking

_'Damn, she got a fine ass!'~Character thinking_

**"I'll blow you to smithereens!"~Bijuu/Boss talking**

_**'Wow, he really is an idiot...'~Bijuu/Boss thinking**_

(_PS-I would also appreciate any type of fanart dedicated to this story XD If someone has made or found any artwork, please PM me and I will link it up on my page for everyone to see! Thank you for your time!_)

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Just my OC!**

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**Chapter 15: Paint the Land Red**

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For a moment, there was no movement between the 3 females.

Unnerved slightly, Neko's grip on her sword tightened in anticipation while Usagi tried to steel herself against the twisted ghost of a smile on Etsuko's scarred face. If it weren't for the growing killer intent radiating from the blonde, neither of the female ANBU would've been intimidated in the slightest. But with the KI came a sense of foreboding that was waiting to be unleashed.

And each of them knew it.

As soon as one of them moved, blood would definitely spill.

But that's what Etsuko wanted, what she desired, _craved..._

"It's time..." The blonde assassin whispered to herself as she hunched forward, her mismatched crimson red and emerald green eyes never leaving the two before her. At the whisper, Neko and Usagi tensed for any sort of incoming attack, but they never expected a thick wave of killer intent to blast over them like a hurricane. Giving a toothy grin at their momentary lapse of focus, Etsuko held the whip handle in her right hand and dashed forward like a wild animal. "Let's see some blood, shall we!?"

Flooding her legs full of chakra, Etsuko launched forward at twice her normal speed and soon enough, the two ANBU found the assassin between them in a matter of a second.

Before either of them could react, Etsuko's right knee buried itself into Usagi's stomach, causing the light blue haired kunoichi to painfully gasp for air. "Usagi-san!" Neko called out as she watched Etsuko's left fist crash against her partner's mask, sending Usagi soaring from her spot. The swordsman brought down her blade to attack their enemy from behind, only for Etsuko to duck under the slash and soon jump up. Too slow to catch herself in time, Neko felt Etsuko land on her shoulders and tightly wrap her legs around her neck. Neko's vision blurred as she felt her world spin when Etsuko's body fell back, pulling her along until they both twisted in mid-air and Neko was sent flying as well.

Just as she released her hold over Neko's neck, Etsuko's chakra filled her whip handle before it water shot across the grass towards Usagi.

Just before Usagi could hit the ground, she felt something wrap itself around her right ankle. She let out a short yelp when she felt herself get swung to the side, eventually feeling her body smash against Neko's. The impact had caused Neko to lose her grip and allowed her sword to slip out of her hands.

"This is more like it!" The blonde laughed in glee as she raced towards the heap of ANBU. On her way towards them, Etsuko's left hand took hold of Neko's sword and charged.

Usagi, sensing the incoming female, didn't allow herself time to groan over the pain of broken ribs as she rolled herself off of her teammate and on her back. Her hands went through a specific set of signs before she launched several small blasts of water. "Water Style: Liquid Bullets!" Etsuko barely even paused in her mad dash as she used the sword to deflect the attacks, but it did manage to slow her down long enough for Neko to pull herself together and begin a technique of her own.

Just as Etsuko jumped into the air, Neko's sword over her head, the cat-masked ANBU extended her right hand and exclaimed, "Wind Style: Gale Palm!"

Seeing the condensed ball of air shooting towards her, the blonde assassin quickly swung her water whip in front of her, watching as her whip exploded after taking the full brunt of the Gale Palm and allowing her to continue on towards her target: Usagi.

"You're going to pay, bitch!" Etsuko exclaimed as she swung the sword down on the rabbit-masked female, who managed to step back in time before she got a gash from the right shoulder down. Etsuko's sadistic smile was one thing, but her voice was full of malice. She hadn't let up for a second, always keeping Usagi on her toes or else risk getting sliced to pieces. Her crimson eye seemed to glow more than the emerald eye. "That mask meant more to me than you'll ever know!" The blonde continued her assault until she caught the falter in Usagi's footing.

Taking the initiative, her water whip lashed out towards Usagi's ankle once more and with a strong pull, the blue haired ANBU felt herself lose balance.

Now on her back, Usagi watched in slight horror as Etsuko stood over her with the sword's tip poised over her. "I'll make sure you and every other Leaf ninja find a one-way trip to Hell!" The assassin declared before the sword was pressed down, aiming for the center of Usagi's mask.

Etsuko let out a curse from both irritation and pain as a blast of wind caught her off guard, launching the sword out of her hand. Her gaze shot towards Neko, who was smirking behind her mask. Even so, the purple haired kunoichi was relieved that her attack had made it in time. For if she had been a split second slower... Nonetheless, Etsuko's attention had been pulled from her and allowed Usagi to kick the blonde's legs out from under her.

"Shit!" She cursed as she tumbled back. She tried to correct her footing after rolling on her back, but as soon as she looked back up, her eyes caught onto the shape of a knee in the last second before it impacted against her forehead. The pain having caught her off guard, Etsuko had pushed herself to her feet and felt a strong jab to her left cheek, courtesy of Usagi's fast-paced taijutsu. It had only taken a moment for the assassin to get distracted long enough for Usagi to engage her in close-quarter combat, her specialty.

The light blue haired kunoichi dug her knuckles into Etsuko's right cheek before she followed up with a quick punch into Etsuko's gut. For a full minute, Etsuko had fallen victim to Usagi's rapid paced strikes to her face, stomach, and chest. As soon as Etsuko tried to retaliate, she had attempted to throw a punch of her own. Usagi smoothly used the back of her left palm to deflect the attack from the wrist down, sending the blonde's arm into the air and shooting the whip handle out of her hold as well. It had also left her open long enough for Usagi to deliver a powerful palm thrust to Etsukos chest.

The blonde coughed out a few droplets of blood as she skid back, her feet digging into the ground until she came to a stop.

"Good one..." The blonde choked out, holding her aching chest with a hand while shooting Usagi an entertained smirk. "I think you broke a rib!"

"I suggest you cease before we're forced to kill you." Neko warned in a monotone voice as she quickly moved to retrieve her sword.

Etsuko snorted before spitting out a glob of blood onto the ground.

Once again, it was there. The amused grin on her face clashed against the evil, almost angry glint in the blonde's eyes.

"Color me surprised. Didn't think a Konoha-nin could be so honorable. Makes me wish the rest of your kind was so humble."

"What are you talking about?" Usagi asked with narrowed eyes behind her mask. "Konoha doesn't enlist sadists like Kirigakure."

A shaky hand reached up to Etsuko's face, her fingers lightly brushing against her scar and sending shivers down her spine. "Wish I could say the same, but it was _you_ Konoha-nin that made me who I am today..." Her voice lowered to a soft whisper. "Broken and corrupted beyond repair." While the two ANBU hadn't the foggiest idea what the Kiri assassin was blabbing on about, said assassin was well aware of their confusion.

After all, they weren't there.

"Well then... Why don't you," Etsuko continued with an eerie glare towards Usagi. The blonde's right arm began to wriggle in a strange manner, a rectangular bulge appearing at the wrist. "Let me show you what it means to be broken!?" Using her left hand, Etsuko performed a single hand-sign for 'release' and charged forward towards the rabbit-masked kunoichi. On her right arm, a set of written seals flashed over her skin before disappearing. Another small bulge appeared on the palm of her hand before it ripped out to the surface.

"Water Release: Liquid Transfiguration!" A large amount of water was released from the palm of her hand, but it hadn't fallen to the ground like normal water. Instead, it floated around her hand, growing bigger in mass until it sudden turned into a solid shape. A hammer. Seeing the large weapon, Usagi quickly stepped back just as the hammer crashed into the ground sending chunks of the earth flying into the air.

"Watch your step!" Etsuko cackled as the smoke started to clear between her and her target, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw Neko readying herself for another attack. All she heard was "Wind Release: Force Wind Slash!" before a large scythe-like air wave was shot at her. With a quick shout of "Release" the same twitching happened in her left arm as seals flashed. Another bulge appeared before water shot out of her palm, soon to take the shape of a solid shield that took most of the blast. "Nice try." The blonde sneered before she turned her head towards Usagi, who was a second away from landing. "Now for you!"

Just as Usagi landed from her dodge, she felt the ground underneath her start to vibrate before it erupted.

The light blue haired kunoichi let out a startled gasp as she felt strands of water shoot out from the ground and wrapping tightly around her body and limbs, soon leaving her immobilized in only a second. In front of her, Etsuko was giggling in excitement as the water from her right hand continued to burrow into the crater made by her hammer.

The ANBU struggled against her bindings while her partner quickly dashed towards Etsuko. "Uh uh, not so fast!" The blonde teased before shooting out more water from her left arm. "Water Style: Water Clone!" The water finally detached itself from her arm as it shot towards Neko, who immediately sliced the blob in half. However, just as the two halves were separated, they moved behind the purple haired swordsman and became a single being before Neko could react.

Neko grunted as she felt the clone's arms wrap around her neck in a headlock, clearly not intending to let go anytime soon.

Taking a moment to look over her work, just like she had done with the genin from earlier, Etsuko cooed in amazement. Usagi continued to struggle in the water that bound her like ropes who her clone busy keeping the swordsman at bay. "Oh my, doesn't this bring back memories..." The blonde mumbled to herself. "It's the exact scenario as before..."

Her crimson eye flashed as her scar seemed to buzz in pain.

"During the 3rd War..."

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**Ok, so how was it folks? If there was any errors, don't be afraid to tell me so I can fix. This chap was kind of short, I think. Just focusing on the little battle between Usagi/Neko and Etsuko. Next chapter will be bits of flashbacks into Etsuko's past, explaining why she's so 'special' and her apparent hatred towards Konoha nin! Hopefully it won't take too long, but my computer still isn't fixed and my information hasn't been recovered. :( Sucks.**

**Anyway, I'll leave it here! Peace!**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

(_PS-I would also appreciate any type of fanart dedicated to this story XD If someone has made or found any artwork, please PM me and I will link it up on my page for everyone to see! Thank you for your time!_)


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